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Fred and Lee saw a huge alligator almost on 
top of them, {See Fa^e 174.\ 


BOBBY BLAKE ON 
A PLANTATION 


OR 

LOST IN THE GREAT SWAMP 


BY 

FRANK A. WARNER 

Author of ‘*Bobby Blake at Rockledoe School,” 
“Bobby Blake on a Cruise,” etc. 


ILLUSTRATED BY 

WALTER ROGERS 


BARSE & HOPKINS 

PUBLISHERS 


NEW YORK, N. Y 


NEWARK, N. J. 






Boons FOR BOY 


THE BOBBY BLAKE SERIES 
By FranK A. Warner 

12mo, Cloth, Illustrated. 

BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL 
Oe Winning the Medal of Honor 
BOBBY BLAKE AT BASS COVE 

Or The Hunt for the Motor Boat Gem 
BOBBY BLAKE ON A CRUISE 

Or The Castaways of Volcano Island 
BOBBY BLAKE AND HIS SCHOOL CHUMS 
Or The Rivals of Rockledge 
BOBBY BLAKE AT SNOWTOP CAMP 
Or Winter Holidays in the Big Woods 
BOBBY BLAKE ON THE SCHOOL NINE 

Or The Champions of the Monatook Lake 
League 

BOBBY BLAKE ON A RANCH 

Or The Secret of the Mountain Cave 
BOBBY BLAKE ON AN AUTO TOUR 
Or The Mystery of the Deserted House 
BOBBY BLAKE ON THE SCHOOL ELEVEN 
Or Winning the Banner of Blue and Gold 
BOBBY BLAKE ON A PLANTATION 
Or Lost in the Big Swamp 


Copyright, 1922 
by 

Barse & Hopkins 
Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

MADB IN THE U. S. A. 

JUL-3'22 


©Ci.A()748r)l 

V-v I 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTEB PAGB 

I The Sinking Boat ...... 9 

II Just in Time . . . ^ ^ . 21 

III A Close Call ..... , ^ . 34 

IV Factno the Bully 42 

V Putting One Over 49 

VI Fire! 58 

VII At Risk op Life 68 

VIII An Unexpected Vacation .... 75 

IX Off for the South 89 

X Half a Gale . 96 

XI Quick Thinking 103 

XII Under Sunny Skies ...... 109 

XIII Flying Heels 118 

XIV Baldy Gives In . .... . . . 127 

XV The Land Shark 134 

XVI Jim Boolus Appears ....... 139 

XVII The Runaway Horse . . . # . 145 

XVIII A Scoundrel’s Trick .....;. 153 

XIX In Desperate Peril ...... 161 

XX The Alligator’s Jaws . . . . ^ 168 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAOB 

XXI A Terrible Moment . > . •; . 175 

XXII The Distant Howl 182 

XXIII Tracked by a Panther ..... 189 

XXIV Swallowed Up by the Boo .... 198 

XXV The Hunter’s Cabin 208 

XXVI A Midnight Prowler 215 

XXVII The Moccasin Snake 225 

XXVIII A Great Discovery 231 

XXIX ’Rastus Abimelech Belshazzar John- 
son 237 

XXX Jim Boolus Trapped ...... 243 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fred and Lee saw a huge alligator almost on top 
of them Frontispiece 

7A01KG PAGB 

Bobby cut loose a life preserver and tossed it to 

the struggling negro 104 

At the same moment the other negro slipped the 
bridle over his head 130 

Like lightning an ugly head appeared at the other 

end and struck savagely at the intruder . . 226 



BOBBY BLAKE ON A 
PLANTATION 

CHAPTER I 

THE SINKING BOAT 

‘‘I TELL you what, fellows, that was some game 
yesterday,’^ said Fred Martin, as he sat with his 
comrades on the steps of Eockledge Hall, the day 
after that memorable Thanksgiving Day when 
Eockledge had beaten its great rival, Belden, in 
the annual football game. 

‘Ht was a close shave though,’’ remarked his 
chum, Bobby Blake, who had been the chief fac- 
tor in the victory. ‘‘There were only two min- 
utes left of playing time when we got the touch- 
down. It came just in the nick of time.” 

“I thought you were a goner when that fellow 
Hoskins dove at you,” put in Jimmy Ailshine, 
better known as “Shiner.” “That fellow sure 
is a terror when it comes to tackling. He grabs 
you as if you were a long-lost brother. ’ ’ 

“He came mighty near stopping me,” admit- 
9 


10 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

ted Bobby. just felt his fingers touch me as 
I dodged. But a miss is as good as a mile, in 
football as in everything else.’^ 

‘‘It was a tough game for Belden to lose,’^ 
commented Perry Wise, a big, fat boy, who went 
by the ironical nickname of “Pee Wee.’^ “But 
both teams couldn’t win, and we were just a lit- 
tle bit too good for them,” he added compla- 
cently. 

“Listen to that ‘we’,” jibed “Sparrow” Bangs. 
“Lot you had to do with it, you old elephant.” 

“Wasn’t I sitting there rooting to beat the 
band?” demanded Pee Wee in an aggrieved tone. 
“And let me tell you I’m some little rooter.” 

“Well, we’ve won the banner of blue and gold 
anyway,” declared Howell Purdy. “Maybe it 
won’t look good floating from the top of that 
flagstaff.” 

“I wonder when we’re going to get it,” pon- 
dered “Sheets” Brody. “Have you seen it yet, 
Bobby?” 

“Not yet,” replied Bobby. “But Frank Bur- 
rock told me all about it. It ’s mighty nifty. It ’s 
made in blue and gold, with a football in the cen- 
ter. Then at each of the four comers there’ll 
be the emblem of one of the schools that played 


11 


The Sinking Boat 

for it, and it will have embroidered on it : ‘ Cham- 
pions of the Monatook Lake Football League/ ” 

‘‘I^d like to have the letters big enough so that 
the Belden fellows could read it from across the 
lake,” chuckled Sparrow. 

‘‘Come otf, Sparrow,” said Bobby with a 
laugh. “You’re hke the Indians who scalp the 
dead. It ought to be enough for you that we 
beat them, without wanting to rub it in. Besides, 
we didn’t beat them by such a margin that we 
can atford to brag much about it. They sure let 
us know that we’d been in a fight.” 

“Talking of fighting,” chimed in Billy Bas- 
sett, “did any of you fellows hear of the hold up 
that took place in town this morning T’ 

“Hold up!” came in a chorus from the lips of 
all the boys, as they crowded around him. 

“Yes,” replied Billy, “up at Mr. Henderson’s 
house, about nine o’clock.” 

“In. broad daylight!” ejaculated Fred. “Gee, 
but those robbers are getting bold. Are you sure 
about it, Billy?” 

“Dead sure,” replied Billy. “In fact, I just 
happened to be passing by, and I saw the whole 
thing.” 

“You saw it!” cried Sparrow, fairly bubbling 


12 


Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

over with excitement. ‘‘It’s a wonder you didn’t 
say something before. How many were there in 
it?” 

“There were two against one,” answered 
Billy. 

“Weren’t you awfully scared?” asked Sheets. 

“Not a bit,” declared Billy. “Why should I 
be scared at seeing two clothes pins holding up a 
shirt?” 

There was a moment of awful silence. 

Then with a howl the crowd rose and threw 
themselves on BiUy, and mauled and pounded him 
until he begged for mercy. 

“To think that I fell for it!” snorted Fred dis- 
gustedly. “I sure am easy.” 

“I’m just as bad,” mourned Sparrow. “I 
swallowed the whole thing, hook, line and sinker. 
I’m not fit to go around alone. They ought to 
put me in an asylum for the feeble-minded. ’ ’ 

“Serves you both right,” laughed Bobby. 
“You ought to know Billy by this time. When- 
ever he starts to talk you can be sure that he’s 
trying to put something over on us. ’ ’ 

“I’d hate to have your suspicious disposition,” 
grinned Billy, highly delighted with the success 
he had scored. 


13 


The Sinking Boat 

‘^Say, fellows, isn^t it getting near time for 
lunchf’’ spoke lip Pee Wee from his recumbent 
position on one of the steps. 

Can’t that tank ever get filled up?” asked 
Sheets. ‘‘Look at the way he polished off that 
grand old Thanksgiving dinner, and he’s starving 
yet.” 

“That was yesterday,” explained Pee Wee. 
“How long do you think one dinner’s going to 
last? Don’t you suppose I’ve got to keep up my 
strength?” 

“What for?” scoffed Sheets. “You’re too 
lazy to use it anyway. ’ ’ 

“Don’t forget that he’s got a lot of weight to 
carry around,” admonished Fred. 

“What seems to be the matter down there,” 
put in Sparrow, pointing to a tree on the campus 
about a hundred feet from where the boys were 
lounging. 

The others followed the direction of Sparrow’s 
finger and saw two boys engaged in what seemed 
to be an angry dispute. Even as they looked, the 
larger of the two snatched off the cap of his com- 
panion and threw it on the ground. 

“Bill Snath is at it again!” exclaimed Fred, 
jumping to his feet. “He’s ragging that new 


14 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

papil that came in a few days ago, Cartier I think 
his name is/’ 

Might know that Snath couldn’t stay decent 
for long,” remarked Skeets. ‘‘He toned down 
a little after Sandy Jackson skipped out, but now 
he’s up to his old tricks. Cartier’s a good deal 
smaller than he is.” 

“That’s the reason Snath’s picking on him,” 
said Bobby. “Trust that bully not to tackle any- 
one of his own, size. Come along, fellows, and 
let’s see what the trouble’s about.’’ 

They hurried in the direction, of the two dis- 
putants, even Pee Wee showing more speed than 
usual, although even at that he brought up in the 
rear. 

In the meantime. Snath had added insult to in- 
jury by planting his feet firmly on Cartier’s cap 
and looking on with a malicious grin on his face, 
while his victim tugged at it in vain attempts to 
regain it. 

As the running boys neared the two. Snath 
caught sight of them, and a look of disappoint- 
ment, not unmixed with fear, came into his small, 
pale eyes. For a moment he appeared as though 
about to slink away, but he thought better of it 
and stood his ground. 


The Sinking Boat 15 

‘^What^s going onf asked Bobby, as his eyes 
went from one to the other. 

‘‘Don’t know that that’s any of your business,” 
growled Snath, a pasty-faced, loose-jawed youth, 
with mean eyes set too close together. 

“We’ll make it our business, you big bully,” 
Fred was beginning, when Bobby placed a re- 
straining hand on his chum’s arm. 

“Just a minute, Fred,” he said. “Let’s hear 
what Cartier has to say about it,” he went on, 
turning to the other boy. “How about it, Lee?” 

“I was passing by him when he told me to take 
off my cap to him,” replied Lee Cartier, a slen- 
der, dark-eyed boy with a clean-cut, intelligent 
face. “I told him I wouldn’t and then he 
grabbed it and threw it on the ground. He’s 
standing on it now,” and he pointed to the 
crumpled cap under the bully’s feet. 

“Suppose you let Lee have his cap. Snath,” 
said Bobby. 

“Suppose I don’t,” snarled the bully doggedly. 

“Then we’ll make you,” Fred burst out hotly, 
his face almost as red as the fiery hair combined 
with a fiery temper that had gained for him the 
nickname of “Ginger.” 

But again Bobby intervened. 


16 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Easy, Fred,” be counseled. “Now look here, 
Snath,” be continued, fixing bis eyes steadily on 
the bully, who tried to meet bis gaze, though bis 
shifty eyes wavered, “weVe bad enough of this 
sort of thing in this school, and we’re not going 
to stand for any more of it\ Sandy Jackson 
tried it and couldn’t get away with it, and you’re 
not going to, either. Take your foot off that 
cap.” 

“I won’t!” snapped- Snath furiously, though 
there was a perceptible wobbly movement of his 
knees. “Who do you think you are anyway, 
Bobby Blake? You just quit butting in and let 
me tend to my own affairs. You needn’t think 
you’re running this school.” 

“Take your foot off that cap,” repeated Bobby, 
not raising his voice a particle, but moving a step 
forward so that he was within easy rea^ch. 

The rest of the boys crowded about the two, all 
agog with expectation of a “scrap.” There was 
not one of them but cordially detested the bully, 
and many of them had been the victims of his 
petty torments. They were eager to see him get 
the thrashing he richly deserved, and that they 
felt Bobby was fully able to give him. 


The Sinking Boat 17 

But Snath was one of those who believed that 
discretion was the better part of valor. He hated 
to give in, with all the boys looking at him, but he 
hated still worse the idea of coming to blows with 
Bobby, although he was much the larger of the 
two. His eyes fell on Bbbby^s fists which were 
slowly clenching, and then with a growl he step- 
ped back off the cap. He could not resist, how- 
ever, the temptation to give the head covering a 
vicious kick. 

^‘Take your old cap,’^ he snarled. ‘‘As for 
you, Bobby Blake, 111 get even with you for this 
when you haven’t got your crowd with you.” 

“Make him pick it up, Bobby!” shouted Fred, 
who was disappointed at not seeing the bully get 
his just deserts. 

But Lee had already picked up the cap and 
put it on his head, while he flashed a look of grati- 
tude at his champion. 

Snath shambled away with a last malignant 
look at Bobby that was full of threats of ven- 
geance in the future. 

“It’s too bad you didn’t have an excuse for 
trimming him, Bobby,” sighed Sparrow, as the 
bully’s form vanished round a comer of the 


18 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

building. “He^s had a licking coming to him for 
a long time, and you’re the one who could have 
done him up to the queen’s taste.” 

‘‘I don’t want to fight,” replied Bobby. 
never want to if I can help it. You know the 
trouble that came from that mixup with Sandy 
Jackson. But there’s been too much of this bul- 
lying going on in the school and it’s just as well 
to let fellows like Snath know where they get 
off.” 

‘‘He’s got it in for you,” declared Skeets. 
^‘Did you see that look he gave you when he went 
away? I’ll bet he’s figuring out right now some 
dirty trick to play on you.” 

“Let him figure,” laughed Bobby. “I should 
worry a lot and build a house on it. But what 
do you say, fellows, to kicking the football around 
a little? I’m a little sore from yesterday, and it 
will help get some of the kinks out of my bones. 
Besides it will help us get up an appetite for 
lunch.” 

All assented readily, except Pee Wee. 

“I’ve got all the appetite I want already,” he 
said. “If I had any more I’d be starving to 
death. But you dubs go ahead and play, and I ^11 
lie down here and rest.” 


19 


The Sinking Boat 

^‘That^s the best thing you do/' chaffed Fred. 

‘‘Best is Pee Wee's middle name," jibed Spar- 
row. 

But the good-natured fat boy only smiled in a 
superior sort of way and made himself comfort- 
able, while his comrades got the ball and put it in 
action. There were not enough of them to form 
two elevens and play a regular game, but they 
got, up a couple of skeleton teams and were soon 
in the thick of some lively scrimmages. 

The new boy, Lee Cartier, had been chosen by 
Bobby as one of his side, and although he was 
not familiar with the fine points of the game, he 
played with zest and spirit and showed that he 
had it in him to become a good player. What he 
lacked in weight and strength he made up in quick- 
ness, and he followed the ball in a way that called 
forth praise from Bobby. 

‘^That was good work, Lee," the latter said, 
after Lee had fallen like a flash on the ball that 
one of the opposing players had fumbled. 

Lee's face flushed with pleasure at the com- 
mendation. 

‘^I'm afraid I'm a good deal of a dub at the 
game," he answered. ‘‘If I could ever learn to 
play the way you did yesterday it would be some- 


20 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

thing to talk about. I wish you would teach me 
the way the game ought to be played. Will you f ^ 

*‘I’ve got lots to learn about it myself/’ re- 
plied Bobby, ‘^but what little I know you’re wel- 
come to. There ’ll probably be lots of days when 
we can practice before real cold weather comes.” 

Just then a cry of alarm arose from Fred, as 
he happened to glance toward the lake. 

‘‘Look at that boat!” he shouted. “It looks 
as if it were sinking ! ’ ’ 

All eyes were turned on a boat containing four 
boys, about a quarter of a mile from the shore. 
Two of the occupants were pulling desperately at 
the oars, but making scarcely any progress. The 
other inmates of the boat were waving their hands 
wildly and shouting at the tops of their voices, 
although what they were saying could not be dis- 
tinguished at that distance. 

Bobby gave one look and threw down the foot- 
ball. 

“Come along, fellows!” he shouted, as he made 
for the boathouse at the top of his speed. 
“They’re sinking and we’ve got to save them!” 


CHAPTER n 


JUST IN TIME 

Thebe was a wild shout as the other boys fol- 
lowed, and they were close on Bobby ^s heels when 
he reached the boathouse. 

There were several boats in the house, most of 
them laid up in canvas coverings, as the weather 
was becoming so cold that the lake offered no 
special attraction. One boat, however, and 
luckily the one nearest the doors, was available, 
and to this Bobby rushed. 

‘‘Lend a hand, some of you fellows he called. 
“Some one get two pairs of oars from the rack. 
Hurry now! We can’t waste a second.’^ 

In a moment the oars were handed down and 
put in the boat and Bobby had thrown open the 
sliding doors. 

Willing hands helped him to push the boat down 
the slanting way that led to the float. 

“Four of us can go in this,” cried Bobby. 
“You, Fred, and you. Sparrow, and — ” 

“Let me go,” begged Lee, whose eyes were 
21 


22 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

burning with excitement. “IVe had a good deal 
of practice in rowing and I can handle an oar as 
well as any one. ’ ^ 

‘‘All right/’ agreed Bobby. “Into the water 
now with the boat.” 

The rowboat was shoved into the water and 
held to the float by Sheets and Shiner, while 
Bobby and his three mates tumbled in, grasped 
the oars and pulled off. 

By this time it was plainly to be seen that the 
endangered boat was much lower in the water 
than it was when it had first been seen. The 
gunwales were almost flush with the level of the 
lake, and the two who had been rowing had aban- 
doned the oars, as it was impossible to drag the 
heavily laden water-logged boat through the 
water. The occupants had thrown off their coats, 
and two of them were tugging away at their 
shoes, preparatory to the swim for fife that 
seemed inevitable. 

The boys who were left on the shore waved 
their hands frantically, shouting to the boys in 
the sinking boat not to jump, and pointing to the 
other boat that was coming to their assistance. 

In the meantime, Bobby and his companions 


Just in Time 23 

were bending to the oars lustily and putting all 
their strength into every stroke. 

^‘Keep at it, fellows!’^ panted Bob*by, while 
the perspiration rolled down his face. ‘^Don^t 
stop to look behind. I’ll take a look once in a 
while just so as to keep the boat steering right. 
Pull with all your might !” 

His comrades needed no urging, and the boat 
leaped through the water with a speed that rap- 
idly cut down the space that still intervened be- 
tween it and the sinking craft. 

For sinking it was now beyond a doubt. The 
occupants had for the moment abandoned the de- 
sign of springing overboard, and were baling 
frantically, using their caps and sweaters and 
hands in the effort to keep the doomed boat afloat 
until their rescuers could reach them. 

‘Hf they can only keep afloat two minutes 
more!” gasped Bobby, as a glance behind showed 
him the awful danger. ‘‘Don’t spare yourself, 
fellows. It may mean life or death. Just two 
minutes more and we’ll get them.” 

But the two minutes grace could not be granted. 
They had got within perhaps a hundred feet, 
when there was a desperate cry from the inmates 


24 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

of the sinking boat, which was echoed from the 
watching crowd on the shore. The next instant 
the boat went down by the bow, and its four oc- 
cupants were struggling in the lake. 

‘‘Pull, fellows, pull!^^ Bobby fairly screamed, 
bending almost double with his own exertions. 

And while the other rescuers were following 
his example, it may be well for the benefit of 
those who have not read the earlier volumes of 
this series, to trace briefly his adventures and 
those of his friends up to the time this story 
opens. 

Bobby Blake was a bright, wide-awake Amer- 
ican boy, who had been brought up in the small 
but prosperous inland village of Clinton. He 
was the only son of parents who were in com- 
fortable circumstances. Bobby was frank, 
merry and straightforward, and a great favorite 
with the boys of his own age, of whom he was the 
natural leader. 

Bobby’s special chum was Fred Martin, son of 
a ’Clinton business man, who lived only a few 
doors away from the Blakes. Fred was freckled, 
redhaired, and had the hot impulsive temper that 
often goes with that color of hair. But he was 
gocrd and generous of heart, and he and Bobby 


Just in Time 


25 


got on famously together. Fred was constantly 
getting into trouble of one kind or another, and 
Bobby was kept busy trying to prevent bis friend 
from reaping the consequences of bis quick tem- 
per. Bobby never looked for trouble, though be 
was always ready to defend his rights and would 
not let himself be imposed on. The boys were 
inseparable, and wherever one was found the 
other was pretty sure not to be far away. 

When Bobby was ten years old, Mr. Blake was 
suddenly called away on business to South 
America, and as Mrs. Blake was going with him, 
it became necessary to send the lad away to 
boarding school. Bobby and Fred were feeling 
very badly over the prospect of their being sep- 
arated, when, to the delight of both, their parents 
decided to send them to Eockledge School to- 
gether. The schpol was a fine one, located on a 
beautiful sheet of water called Monatook Lake. 
Here the chums found that they had to study 
hard, but they also had lots of fun and adven- 
ture. Some bullies tried to tyrannize over them, 
but failed in the attempt, and how Bobby came 
out ahead of them is told in the first volume of 
the series, entitled: ‘‘Bobby Blake at Eockledge 
School.’’ 


26 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

Vacation time found Bobby spending a few 
weeks at tbe summer borne of Perry Wise, or 
^‘Pee Wee,’’ tbe big, fat boy whose laziness and 
enormous appetite were a source of good-natured 
fun for all tbe Eockledge boys. Here they bad a 
great variety of sports, for tbe borne was on tbe 
sea coast and there were abundant opportunities 
for swimming, boating and fishing. Tbe bunt 
for a missing motor boat added greatly to tbe 
excitement of their visit. 

Their stay was cut short by a message from 
Bobby’s parents to meet them at Porto Kico, 
where they expected to stop on their homeward 
journey. Bobby was wild to meet them, tbe 
more so because at one time their ship bad been 
reported as shipwrecked and lost. It was ar- 
ranged that Fred should go with him, and tbe 
boys embarked in high spirits. Their ship caught 
fire, however, and they with others found them- 
selves adrift, landing at last on a volcanic island, 
narrowly escaping with their fives. 

‘‘The fellows at Eockledge will hardly believe 
us when we tell them all we ’ve gone through, ’ ’ de- 
clared Bobby, as they were on their way home. 

“It will sound as if we were stretching things,” 
admitted Fred, “but I guess they’ll believe us 


Just in Time 27 

when we cross our hearts. Anyway, wer know it ^s 
true.^’ 

They found the Fall term at Rockledge full of 
sport and interest and they had some surprising 
experiences. Many of these were due to the 
warm, rivalry that existed between Rockledge 
and Belden School, a rival institution on the fur- 
ther side of Monatook Lake. 

When the Christmas holidays came, Bobby and 
a number of his special chums were invited to 
visit Snowtop Camp belonging to an uncle of 
‘‘Mouser^’ Pryde. This was up in the Big 
Woods. There were wildcats near there, to say 
nothing of a big bear that made lots of trouble 
for them before the boys got the best of him. 
There was a snowslide too that buried their house 
and gave them some lively work to dig themselves 
out. 

With the coming of Spring, the boys of Rock- 
ledge were alive with enthusiasm over baseball. 
Bobby and Fred became members of the Rock- 
ledge nine, and it was Bobby ^s fine work as a 
pitcher in the most important games that en- 
abled the Rockledge boys to beat Belden out and 
win the baseball championship of the school 
league. 


28 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

tell you what, he just had the Belden fel- 
lows eating out of his hand,” was the way Jimmy 
Ailshine, or ‘‘Shiner,” as he was called, ex- 
pressed his opinion of Bobby’s work in the box. 

An entirely new experience came to Bobby 
when he and Fred and several of their schoolboy 
friends went out West to a ranch owned by a 
relative of Sparrow Bangs. Here they made 
friends with the cowboys and learned to ride, and 
they also fell in with a moving picture company 
and took part in the making of a film. The way 
they discovered the plot of some Mexicans and 
lawless characters and were able to thwart it 
forms the subject of a very exciting story. 

There was still a part of their vacation left, 
when they returned from the ranch, and Sheets 
Brody urged them to spend this in making a trip 
in his father’s automobile. A copperhead snake 
that took possession of their cave furnished an 
exciting feature of the trip, which was further 
enlivened by an encounter with gypsies. They 
rescued two little children from these vagabonds 
of the road, though at considerable risk to them- 
selves, and had the good fortune to restore them 
to their father. 

The boys returned to school in high spirits, 


Just in Time 


29 


and in the intervals of their studies practiced 
strenuously in order to ‘‘make’^ the football 
team. This time there were two other schools 
besides Belden that they had to battle with, and 
they found their work cut out for them. In fact 
they came within an ace of losing the deciding 
game, but how Bobby rose to the occasion and 
carried the ball over the goal line for a touch- 
down and a glorious victory is told in the volume 
preceding this, entitled: ‘‘Bobby Blake On the 
School Eleven; or. Winning the Banner of Blue 
and Gold.^^ 

And now on the very day following that vic- 
tory, we see Bobby working as he had never 
worked before, to save the inmates of the sink- 
ing boat from death in the icy waters of the lake. 

The boys who had been thrown into the water 
when the boat went down rose to the surface, 
dashed the water from their eyes and looked 
wildly about them. 

They spied the advancing boat, which was now 
close at hand, and two of them struck out for it. 
A third tried to swim, but seemed to be so chilled 
and bewildered that he could make no progress. 
He did manage, however, to keep his head above 
water. The fourth, it was evident could not swim 


30 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

at all. He splashed about feebly for a moment 
and then sank. 

By this time Bobby’s boat was right among 
them. The two foremost swimmers grabbed the 
stern, as the boys suspended rowing. Bobby 
reached over and grabbed a third one, who al- 
most pulled him out of the boat. 

Just then the water broke alongside and the 
head of the boy who had gone down appeared. 
His eyes were glassy, and he was almost uncon- 
scious. Lee was the nearest one to him and 
reached over to grab him. He caught his hair, 
but the drowning boy’s weight was too great, and 
the boat tipped so sharply that Lee was dragged 
over the gunwale. 

He came up spluttering and gasping, but still 
holding on to the other. Bobby surrendered the 
boy he was holding to Fred, and grasping an oar 
held it out to Lee. The latter caught it and 
Bobby pulled him up to the side of the boat. 

‘‘Take him in first!” gasped Lee, indicating 
his helpless burden. “I can hold on to the boat.” 

By using all their strength and being especially 
careful not to upset the boat, the rescuers lifted 
the half drowned boy on board. Then came Lee ’s 


Just in Time 31 

turn and that of the other three, two of whom 
managed to clamber over without help. 

‘‘Now,^’ said Bobby with a sigh of relief, when 
all were safely in the boat. ‘‘WeVe got to work 
like beavers to get back to shore. It^s no joke 
to be soaked to the skin on so cold a day as this. 
Here, Lee,’^ he went on, turning to the shivering 
lad, ‘^take this coat of mine.^’ 

won’t do it,” said Lee, ‘‘You need it your- 
self.” 

“Not a bit of it,” replied Bobby. “I’ve been 
rowing so hard I’m all in a sweat, and the work 
getting home will keep me warmer than I’ll want 
to be. You’ve just got to take it.” 

Despite Lee’s protest, Bobby put the coat 
around him. Fred and Sparrow followed suit 
with regard to the other boys, whom they made 
lie down in the boat so as to escape the wind, 
Then they took the oars and pulled vigorously for 
the shore. 

Cheers greeted them as they approached. 
The news of what was going on had spread like 
wildfire, and all of Eockledge School was down 
at the shore, including Doctor Eaymond, the head 
of the institution, and Mr. Leith and Mr. Carrier, 


32 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

two teachers. A doctor also had been summoned 
and many of the townspeople had hurried on foot 
and in autos to the spot. 

There was a hubbub of excited exclamations, as 
the boat reached the little landing stage. The 
spectators had seen the figures dragged aboard, 
but from that distance could not tell whether 
some of them were alive or dead. 

The moment the boat slid alongside the float, 
eager hands were outstretched to help, and great 
was the relief when it was found that no life had 
been lost. 

The rescued ones were hurried up to the school, 
where their wet clothes were stripped from them 
and they were given hot drinks and placed be- 
tween warm blankets. 

Doctor Raymond was so busy in supervising 
this work that he had no time more than to tell 
the rescuers that he was proud of them and would 
see them later in his study. But others crowded 
around them and made much of them, while 
showering them with questions. 

‘‘It was nothing at all,’’ said Bobby with char- 
acteristic modesty. “We simply happened to be 
nearest and the boat was handy and we piled in 
and rowed out to them. Any one else would have 


Just in Time 


33 


done the same if the chance had come to them, 
and you fellows are making too much out of it. ^ ’ 
‘‘That’s all very well,” said Sheets Brody with 
a grin, “but I notice just the same that when 
anything has to be done and done in a hurry it’s 
Bobby Blake that’s ‘Johnny on the spot’.” 


CIUPTER ni 


A CLOSE CALL 

Now that the danger was over, the crowd be- 
gan to melt away, and the boys, who in the excite- 
ment had forgotten all about lunch, suddenly re- 
membered that they had been overlooking what 
was to all of them a duty and to most of them a 
pleasure and made a break for the dining hall. 

Pee Wee was especially remorseful that he had 
so far forgotten himself. 

‘‘Oee!’^ he observed, as he took out his watch. 

Lunch time has been over for more than half 
an hour. I hope they haven ^t cleared the table. 

‘‘If they haven ^t, you will when you get to it,^^ 
jibed Sheets. “That^s one place where you can 
be depended on to .work. ’ ^ 

“That isn’t work — it’s fun,’’’ admitted Pee 
Wee, as he started to put his watch back in his 
pocket. But in his haste it dropped from his 
fingers and fell with a bang to the ground. 

There was an exclamation from the boys, who 

34 


A Close Call 35 

crowded around Pee Wee as lie looked ruefully 
at the watch, whose crystal had been broken. 

‘^Did it stop?’’ asked Fred. 

course it stopped when it hit the ground,” 
put in Billy. ‘‘What did you expect it to do — 
go right through to China?” 

Pee Wee favored Billy with a glare that ex- 
pressed his opinion of that lad’s frivolity. 

“Of all the idiots — ” he began, and then words 
failed him and he tapped his forehead signifi- 
cantly. 

Nothing abashed, the graceless Billy grinned. 

“It wasn’t so bad,” he said complacently. “I 
don’t know how those things come to me but they 
do — just like that,” he added snapping his fingers 
airily. 

“He hates himself — I don’t think,” remarked 
Fred, making a playful pass at Billy, who dodged 
so adroitly that the blow passed over his head 
and caught the luckless Pee Wee in the stomach 
almost making him drop his watch again. 

“Say, what are you up to?” he demanded in- 
dignantly, rubbing the injured spot with his hand. 
“Haven’t I fiad hard luck enough for one day 
without you fellows rubbing it in?” 

“You seem to be doing all the rubbing,” 


36 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

laughed Ffed. ‘‘Sorry, old boy, but that stomach 
of yours is so big that nothing can miss it.’^ 

“Stop picking on poor little iPee Wee,^’ 
chuckled Sparrow. “Cheer up, Pee Wee. What 
if another Ingersoll did bite the dust? You’ll 
have a good excuse now for being late at recita- 
tions. 

This silver lining to the cloud was not without 
its effect on Pee Wee, and putting the battered 
watch into his pocket, successfully this time, he 
hurried to the dining hall, where the savory odors 
of the meal that the housekeeper had prepared 
soon made him forget all his troubles. 

The boys at the tables were bubbling over with 
interest at the stirring events they had witnessed, 
and Bobby and the rest of his crew had all they 
could do in answering the questions that were 
showered upon them. 

“Don’t you feel awfully sore and used up, 
Bobby?” queried Howell Purdy, his voice a little 
muffled because his mouth was so full. 

“Not so very,” responded Bobby. “I sup- 
pose I will to-morrow though. The second day 
is always w'orse than the first.” 

“If our boys ever pulled that wgfy in a race, 
we’d have no trouble in beating out Belden,” re- 


A Close Call 


37 


marked Shiner. ^^You fellows were simply lift- 
ing that boat out of the water. As it was, you 
didn^t get there a minute too soon either.’’ 

‘‘Not a second too soon,” corrected Sparrow. 
“That fellow who couldn’t swim will never come 
nearer to death than he was to-day. My heart 
was just about in my mouth when I saw him go 
down.” 

“Lee had a close call too when he was pulled 
overboard,” put in Sheets. 

“Oh, as for that, Lee can swim like a fish,” 
remarked Fred. “But he got a wetting just the 
same and had to sit in his wet clothes until we 
got back to the float. I hope it hasn’t hurt him.” 

“He isn’t very strong, but he’s as plucky as 
they make them,” commented Sheets, “and he 
certainly knows how to swing an oar.” 

“We had one bit of luck to help us out,” said 
Bobby, “and that was that one of the boats 
hadn’t been put away in canvas. If it had been, 
we could never have got it out in time. As it 
was, it was close to the door, so we could slide it 
out in a jitfy.” 

When at last the meal was finished and even, 
Pee Wee had had enough to eat, Bobby’s first 
thought was of Lee. He saw Mr. Carrier hur- 


38 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

rying through the hall .and asked him about the 
Southern boy whom he had already learned to 
like very much. 

‘^Lee Cartier was very badly chilled,’^ was Mr. 
Carrier's response, ‘‘and that, combined with 
over exertion, has made the doctor a little anx- 
ious about him. I guess it would be better for 
you boys not to see him for a while. But the 
other boys are getting along all right, and they 
just told me that they would like to see you and 
the other members of the boat crew that rescued 
them. By the way, Blake, you and the other 
boys who went with you did nobly to-day and 
I^m proud of you. It was a splendid piece of 
work. ’ ^ 

Bobby flushed at the praise and would have 
disclaimed any special credit, but Mr. Carrier 
smiled and went on. Bobby hunted up Sparrow 
and Fred, and the three went to the room which 
had been placed at the disposal of the boys they 
had rescued. 

They found the four seated before a glowing 
fire, wrapped in hat blankets and eating with 
evident relish an abundant meal that had been 
brought up to them. Apart from their rumpled 
hair, they bore no sign of the ordeal through which 


A Close Call 39 

they had passed, and which had so nearly cost 
the lives of all of them. 

They jumped to their feet as their three res- 
cuers came in and surrounded them, shaking 
hands and offering fervent thanks for the help 
they had brought them at the moment of their 
deepest need. 

^‘Why, you are Belden boys!’’ exclaimed 
Bobby, as he took a good look at them. ‘‘I sup- 
pose I ought to have known that before, but I 
was so busy that I didn’t have a chance to see 
much of your faces.” 

‘^Then, too, we looked so much like drowned 
rats that you probably wouldn’t have recognized 
us anyway,” laughed the eldest one of the quar- 
tette. ‘‘Yes, we’re Belden boys, all right, and 
live ones too, thanks to you. If it hadn’t been 
for you fellows, all four of us would have been 
at the bottom of the lake by this time. My name 
is Wilson and this is Thompson and this is Liv- 
ingston and this is Miner,” he added, introduc- 
ing himself and his companions. 

“I know Livingston and Miner already,” re- 
sponded Bobby, after having introduced Spar- 
row and Fred in turn. “They played against 
our team in the football game yesterday.” 


40 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Sure thing, agreed Livingston, while Miner 
smiled assent, “and we didn’t think when we were 
trying to k«eep you away from our goal line then 
that you’d be saving our lives to-day.” 

“Tell us how it all happened,” said Bobby, as 
the party seated themselves comfortably before 
the open fire. 

“I suppose it was a bit of foolishness on our 
part,” replied Wilson, who seemed by common 
consent to be the spokesman of the Belden group, 
“and I’m the most foolish of the lot, because I 
was the one who proposed the trip. We were all 
feeling a little sore and blue over the defeat our 
team suffered yesterday, and to get our minds 
off it I proposed to the rest of the fellows here 
that we should take a row on the lake. We no- 
ticed a little water in the bottom of the boat when 
we started, but thought that might be due to the 
rain we had a few days ago. It was only when 
we had got out beyond the middle of the lake that 
we noticed that the boat was leaking badly. We 
tried to stuff the leak with our handkerchiefs, but 
in jabbing them in with an oar, we pushed too 
hard and widened the crack so that we could do 
nothing with it, and the water began to come in 
faster than we could bail it out. This side of the 


A Close Call 


41 


lake was the nearer, and we began to pull toward 
it as hard as we could. It was just about that 
time I guess that you saw us. I tell you we felt 
good when we saw you rush to the landing and 
get out the boat. It braced us up and made us 
keep up the fight till the last minute. But toward 
the end I thought it was all up with us. Thomp- 
son here was the worst oflF of any of us, for he 
canT swim a stroke. 

^‘I sure thought that I was a goner,’’ broke in 
Thompson. ‘‘I think I must have gone all 
through the pain of drowning, for the last thing 
I remember was that my lungs seemed bursting. 
I don’t even recall being pulled into the boat. It 
sure was a close call.” 

‘‘Yes,” agreed Bobby soberly as he gazed into 
the fire, “it was a close call.” 


CHAPTER IV 


FACING THE BULLY 

Thebe was silence in the room for a minute or 
two. The boys all sensed the nearness of the 
tragedy that had been so narrowly averted, and 
each had an inward shudder as he thought of what 
might have been. 

But though the death angel had passed so 
close that they had almost heard the rustling of 
his wings, here they were after all alive and safe, 
and their spirits rose while their hearts swelled 
with thankfulness. 

‘‘Well,’’ remarked Wilson, breaking the si- 
lence, “this will be a lesson to me, as the darky 
said when he was about to be hanged. I don’t 
get in any more boats unless they’re as dry as a 
bone.’^ 

“And even then I’ll keep out of them,” said 
iThompson with emphasis. “Dry land is good 
enough for me, at least, until I learn how to 
swim.” 


42 


Facing the Bully 43 

“Wouldn^t care to have us row you back to 
Belden, ehV^ queried Bobby with a grin. 

‘ ‘Not on your life/^ laughed -Miner. ‘ ‘ They Ve 
’phoned over that they’ll send an auto for us and 
we’ll go back in style. But we’ll never forget till 
the last day of our lives what you fellows have 
done for us. And if I ever hear any fellow knock 
Bockledge, he’ll have a fight on his hands right 
away. ’ ’ 

Bobby laughed, as he and his two companions 
rose to go. 

“Oh, Belden and Eockledge will have many a 
fight yet,” he said, “but they’ll be good-natured 
fights on the baseball or football fields, and may 
the best school win.” 

They exchanged hearty farewells with the Bel- 
den boys, and went out of the room and down the 
corridor. On the way they passed Bill Snath, 
who favored them with a malicious stare in pass- 
ing and uttered the word “heroes,” in a sneering 
tone, as he went by. It was spoken in a low tone, 
but loud enough for Fred, who was nearest him, 
to hear it, and his temper took fire at once. 

“What was that you said. Bill Snath?” he de- 
manded, as he turned on his heel. 

“Nobody spoke to you, redhead,’’ returned 


44 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

Snath, snapping out the epithet with a good deal 
of relish. 

This was like a spark to powder, and Fredas 
face became as red as his hair. 

‘‘You take that back!’’ he cried, rushing up to 
Snath, who had stopped and was regarding him 
with a tantalizing grin. 

“Suppose I don’t, what are you going to do 
about it?” demanded the bully, his tone the more 
confident because he could see behind Fred’s back 
the tall figure of Mr. Leith, the head teacher, 
coming up from the other end of the hall. 

“I’ll show you what I’m going to do about it,” 
Fred replied, and was starting to unbutton his 
coat, when Bobby, who had come up, restrained 
him. 

“Mr. Leith’s coming, Fred,” he warned him. 
“Cool off now and come along. He’s close be- 
hind you now. ’ ’ 

There was no need of saying anything else, and 
Fred by a great effort restrained himself. Mr. 
Leith came by and looked curiously at the flushed 
face of the boy. He said nothing however, but 
when he had reached the other end of the hall 
stood there as if in meditation. 

“It’s lucky for you that he came along just 


45 


Facing the Bully 

then/’ Fred said in a low tone to the bully. ‘‘If 
you have nerve enough to come somewhere out 
of sight of the school, we’ll settle this thing right 
now.” 

“You’re three to one,” Snath replied. “If 
you were alone I’d make you sing small.” 

“They’ll only go along to see fair play,” an- 
swered Fred. “But if you like, I’ll go with you 
alone. I’ve taken about all I’m going to take 
from you. Bill Snath.” 

“You’ll have to take all I care to give you,” 
drawled ’Snath, feeling perfectly safe as long as 
Mr. Leith was in sight. 

As at that moment Mr. Leith began to come 
back along the hall, there was nothing more to be 
done or said and the boys separated. Snath 
sauntering toward the teacher with affected non- 
chalance, while Fred with Bobby and Sparrow 
went in the opposite direction. 

“That fellow gets my goat,” growled Fred. 
“He never goes past without a nasty look or 
word. He’s getting just as bad as Sandy Jack- 
son, and he needs to be taken down.” 

“He’s aching for a thrashing,” agreed Bobby, 
“and that’s twice to-day he’s come near getting 
it. But if I were you, Fred, I’d take as little 


46 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

notice of him as I could. If you hadn^t paid any 
attention to what he said about heroes, he ’d have 
thought we didn’t hear him, and that would have 
made him sore. As it is, he ’s tickled to death be- 
cause he thinks he put one over on us. ’ ’ 

‘^But he called me redhead!” exclaimed Fred, 
‘^and no one can do that in earnest without a 
fight.” 

^^That of course is different,” admitted Bobby. 
‘‘I wouldn’t let any one call me names and get 
away with it. But as far as we can, the best 
thing is to let him alone. Some time or other 
he ’ll get to the end of his rope, just as his pal did 
and get out of Eockledge School.” 

guess Bobby’s about right,” remarked 
Sparrow. ‘‘I suppose it’s always better to go 
round a skunk than take a kick at him. But I 
don’t blame Fred for feeling sore. I feel the 
same way.” 

The chums went out on the steps of the school, 
where they found a group of their friends wait- 
ing for them. 

‘‘How are the fellows getting along who were 
nearly drowned I” asked Skeets. 

^‘Fine and dandy,” replied Fred, who by this 
time had regained his usual good nature. “Not 


47 


Facing the Bully 

one of them is going to kick the bucket. And 
what do you think, fellows? They he all Belden 
boys.’^ 

“Belden boys!’^ echoed Shiner. “Our chief 
rivals! Thath what you call heaping coals of 
fire on their head.^’ 

“I guess coals of fire would have felt comfort- 
able when they were out in the lake,’’ laughed 
Mouser. “But I’m mighty glad they’re getting 
along all right. If any of them had died, I ’d ex- 
pect to hear their ghosts walking about the halls 
of the building to-night.” 

“Listen to him talk,” said Howell Purdy 
scornfully. “You can’t hear ghosts walk. They 
just float around as soft as anything.” 

“That’s right,” came in a chorus from the 
boys, who had involuntarily gathered a little 
closer together at the talk of ghosts. 

“No, he isn’t right,” chirped up Billy. 
“Mouser had it straight when he talked about 
hearing ghosts walking.” 

“There you are,” said Mouser, glad of the re- 
inforcement. 

“It’s easy enough to say that,” put in Howell, 
“but how are you going to prove it? All the 
books I ever read say that they don’t make any 


48 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

noise. You can’t hear them coming. So what do 
you make of that!” he added turning triumph- 
antly toward Billy. 

The latter however seemed not to be a bit dis- 
turbed. 

“All the same I’m right,” he asserted with 
quiet confidence. 

“How can you prove it!” demanded Howell 
defiantly. 

“That’s the talk” came from the others. 
“Prove it, Billy. Put up or shut up.” 

“All right,” replied Billy, accepting the chal- 
lenge. “I know that ghosts walk because I’ve 
heard them do it!” 


CHAPTER V 


PUTTING ONE OVEB 

Thebe was a shout of amazement from the boys 
in which could be detected an element of unbelief 
and derision. But there was also a note of awe 
that was balm to Billyhs soul. Any one who was 
so familiar with the supernatural was not to be 
regarded lightly. Billy felt that he had scored 
a decided hit and swelled out his chest import- 
antly. 

When did you hear them walk?^^ asked Sheets, 
looking about him a little apprehensively. 

^ ^You’re just kidding/' declared Shiner, 
stoutly. don't believe a word of it." 

think that Billy's getting us on a string," 
affirmed Fred, although his eager eyes showed 
that he was none too sure of it. 

Billy waited for the storm of protest and com- 
ment to subside. 

‘‘I mean just what I said," he affirmed. 

Cross my heart and hope to die if I don't." 

This solemn affirmation helped to quell the 
49 


50 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

doubters, especially as there was nothing to 
arouse suspicion in Billy’s sober face. 

‘‘Well then, tell us all about it,” urged Mouser, 
who was anxious to obtain confirmation of his 
own belief. 

“It was in our town when old General Bixby 
was buried,” explained Billy, amid a silence in 
which one could have heard a pin drop. “There 
was a big turnout and the band played awful 
solemn music.” 

He paused for a moment. 

“Yes, go on, go on,” urged Sheets excitedly. 
“Was it then that you heard the ghosts walk?” 

“Yes,” replied Billy. “It was then that I 
heard the Bead March.” 

There was a moment of stupefaction, as the 
idea filtered! into the .minds of Billy’s dupes. 
Bobby grasped it first. 

“Eun, Billy run!” he counseled. “They’ll kill 
you for that!” 

But Billy had already edged his way to the rim 
of the group and by the time they lunged for him 
was safely out of reach. Then he danced a jig 
and went through various gestures expressive of 
his pity and contempt for the victims who had 
let themselves so readily be taken in. 


51 


Putting One Over 

too easy/’ he shouted. ‘‘It really isn’t 
sportsmanlike to take advantage of such inno- 
cent boobs. It’s like taking candy from a baby.” 

“It’s no use,” declared Bobby. “Billy is a 
hopeless case.” 

“He sure is,” agreed Mouser, whose faith in 
ghosts had received a severe bump. “I was 
watching his face too, but he was so sober that I 
fell for it and fell good and hard. The only 
satisfaction is that the rest of you fell for it 
too.” 

Just then Dr. Eaymond, the head of the school 
approached, and the boys subsided. The doctor 
smiled pleasantly at the group and singled out 
Bobby. 

“I’d like to have you come to my office in a 
few minutes, Blake,” he said, “and you also 
Martin and Bangs. I have something to say to 
you.” 

“Very well, sir,” the boys assented. 

The doctor passed on, and the boys looked at 
each other. Usually an invitation to the doctor’s 
office portended something unpleasant, and was 
not looked forward to with any degree of en- 
thusiasm. 

“Now you’re going to catch it,” chaffed Sheets. 


52 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘What have you roughnecks been up to nowP’ 
demanded Shiner with mock severity. 

‘‘Perhaps he^s going to scold you for falling 
for my jokes/’ Billy rubbed it in. 

But the three who had been summoned only 
smiled. There had been times after midnight 
spreads and other escapades, when such an invi- 
tation would have made them decidedly uneasy. 
But just at the moment their consciences were 
clear, and it was without misgiving that a few 
minutes later they knocked at the doctor’s door 
and were told to come in. 

The doctor was seated at his desk, but rose as 
they entered and motioned them to seats. He 
was a tall, rather spare man of middle age, with 
keen eyes and the face of a scholar, in which 
could be seen also the experience of a man of af- 
fairs. There was an air of natural dignity about 
him that warned any one that he would be an un- 
safe man to trifle with. But although he was a 
strict disciplinarian and the boys stood in whole- 
some awe of him, he was yet tolerant and broad- 
minded and absolutely just. Any boy that was 
summoned before him for an alleged offense could 
be certain of being heard in his own defense, and 


Putting One Over 53 

of getting a ^‘square deal;^’ and wherever pos- 
sible, justice would be tempered with mercy. 

He had built up a reputation for Kockledge 
School that was spread far and wide. His in- 
structors were well chosen, the manners and 
morals of the boys were carefully looked after, 
and parents had no hesitation in confiding their 
boys to his keeping. The institution was fortu- 
nate in its location, standing on the shores of 
Monatook Lake, a beautiful body of water, which 
atforded facilities for bathing, boating and fish- 
ing in Summer and for skating and other ice 
sports in Winter. In addition to these natural 
advantages, the school had a well-equipped gym- 
nasium and excellently laid out fields for foot- 
ball, baseball and other sports. For training 
both the mind and the body, Eockledge School 
left little to be desired; and this was so well un- 
derstood in that part of the country that there 
was usually a waiting list of applicants for ad- 
mission to the strictly limited number of pupils. 

have sent for you boys,’’ the doctor said, 
after they had seated themselves,” to thank you 
on behalf of myself and the school for the gal- 
lant thing you did today in saving those boys 


54 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

from drowning in the lake. It took a lot of pluck 
and hard work, and I^m proud of you.’’ 

The boys looked embarrassed. 

‘‘How is Lee Cartier getting along, Dr. Eay- 
mondf” asked Bobby eagerly, glad to change 
the subject. “Mr. Carrier told me that he 
wasn’t well enough for us to see him.” 

The doctor’s face took on. a worried look. 

“It’s a little early to tell yet,” he replied. 
“Dr. Evans, who has just gone, told me that the 
drenching he had received and the exposure after- 
ward while you were getting back to shore had 
been a severe shock to his system. He comes 
from the South, you know, and hasn’t been up 
here long enough to get hardened to our climate. 
There is a possibility that he may be in for a 
serious illness. Still, we’ll hope for the best. I 
won’t keep you any longer,” he said, rising as a 
signal of dismissal, “but I want once more to say 
to you that you have done honor to yourselves 
and the school.” 

The boys bowed themselves out and closed the 
door behind them. 

“The doctor’s a brick, isn’t he?” remarked 
Fred, as they went down the hall. 


Putting One Over 55 

‘‘You bet be is/’ agreed Sparrow. “He’s the 
real goods.” 

“He’s all wool and a yard wide,” was Bobby’s 
tribute to the head of Kockledge School. 

A week passed swiftly by and then another, and 
by that time Winter had come in earnest. There 
had as yet been no snow, but the weather had be- 
come intensly cold and the lake was beginning to 
freeze over. At first, the ice looked like a gigan- 
tic spider’s web shooting out in shimmering 
threads until the entire surface was covered with 
a crystal coating. Then the ice began to thicken 
at the shores, and it was evident that with the 
continuance of the cold weather it would soon be 
possible to skate from one end of the lake to the 
other. 

Skates were gotten out and polished and sharp- 
ened. Some of the boys busied themselves with 
making ice sails, which they could hold in their 
hands and which would carry them like the wind 
along the glassy surface without the expenditure 
of any effort of their own, save what was re- 
quired to hold the sails. This contrivance had a 
special appeal to Pee Wee, who was a profound 
believer in any device that would save labor. 
He was far too lazy however to make one for 


56 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

himself and had written home asking his folks to 
buy and send him one. To the other boys^ sug- 
gestion that it be especially reinforced or made of 
sheet iron, he turned a deaf and scornful ear. 

But before the ice was quite hard enough to be 
trusted, the snow took a hand. Up to then there 
had been nothing but a few flurries that did 
scarcely more than whiten the ground. But one 
afternoon, as the boys came out of their last reci- 
tations, they saw that the skies were lowering 
and that a steady snowstorm was in progress. 

Ordinarily this would have been welcomed, but 
just now the boys had their minds set on skating, 
so that the sight of the whirling flakes was some- 
thing of a disappointment. 

‘‘There goes our skating up the flue,’’ com- 
mented Shiner, as he looked on the ground on 
which there was already an inch of snow. “The 
lake will be no good, if it’s all covered with snow.” 

“And by the time the snow’s ready to melt, 
the ice will melt too, ’ ’ mourned Sparrow. 

“And I just got a notice from the express 
company this morning that my ice sail was 
there,” complained Pee Wee. 

“Oh, stop your grouching, you poor fish,” said 
Bobby. “In the first place the snow may not 


57 


Putting One Over 

amount to anything. In the second place, if it 
does, we can get busy and sweep off enough of 
the ice on the lake to skate on. And in the third 
place, what we may miss in skating we can make 
up in coasting.’’ 

‘ ‘ ‘ The fellow worth while is the one that can smile 

When everything's going dead wrong,' " 

chanted Sheets. guess that means Bobby,’’ 
he added, giving the latter a nudge in the ribs. 

‘‘Well, what have we got to growl about any- 
way?” said Fred, falling into his chum’s mood. 
“Here we are well and strong and able to put 
away three square meals a day” — here Pee Wee 
pricked up his ears. “Now if we were shut up 
in a room like Lee Cartier, we might have some- 
thing to kick about.” 

“Poor Lee!” remarked Bobby regretfully, 
“He’s certainly had a rough deal. He’s lucky of 
course that he didn’t get pneumonia. But it’s no 
joke to be kept in his room so long. I’m going 
over to see him for a while as soon as supper 
is over.” 

Which he did, accompanied by Fred and Spar- 
row, who had expressed a desire to go along. 


CHAPTER VI 
pibe! 

The other schoolboys found Lee in the private 
room that had been set apart for him, propped 
up with pillows in a big easy chair and wrapped 
snugly in a bathrobe. His face was pale from 
his illness, but it lighted up when he saw his vis- 
itors. 

was just wishing you fellows would drop 
in,^’ he said, as they shook hands with him and 
pulled their chairs up close. 

‘‘It must get awful poky cooped up in the room 
so long, ’ ^ said Bobby sympathetically. 

“It sure does,’’ rejoined the boy from the 
South. “Of course I have books to read that 
help to pass away the time, but that isn’t like be- 
ing with the fellows. Not that I’ve read very 
much this afternoon,” he went on, “because I’ve 
been too busy looking at the snow. Do you know 
that this is the first real snow storm I have ever 
seen?” 

“Is that so?” queried Fred in astonishment. 

58 


Fire ! 59 

‘‘We see so much of it every year that it gets 
to be an old story with us.^’ 

“You’ve got an awful lot of fun coming to 
you,” put in Sparrow. “There’s skating and ice 
sailing and coasting and snowballing and lots of 
things. ’ ’ 

“Not forgetting muskratting and fishing 
through the ice, ’ ’ added Fred. ‘ ‘ Maybe we didn ’t 
have a lot of fun the winter we spent up in Snow- 
top Camp, eh, fellows!” 

“You bet we did,” agreed Sparrow, and 
launched into a long description of that memor- 
able winter holiday in the Big Woods, not forget- 
ting the bear and the wildcat and the snowslide 
that buried the house, and other adventures, to all 
of which Lee Cartier listened with the most rapt 
attention and interest. 

“It must have been great,” he murmured with 
a sigh of envy. “I can see that I’ve got a lot 
of fun waiting for me as soon as I can get out- 
doors again. And I hope it won’t be long till 
then. The doctor said to-day that I could prob- 
ably be outdoors in a week.” 

“That’s bully,” said Bobby. “But do you 
really mean, Lee, that you’ve never seen snow 
before!” 


60 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Oh, I Ve seen little flurries of it once or twice,’’ 
replied Lee, “but it’s never amounted to any- 
thing, and it’s melted just as soon as it struck 
the ground. Down in Louisiana, where I come 
from, it’s practically summer all the year round. 
While it’s been snowing here to-day, people have 
been going in swimming down there. The dar- 
keys are going round barefooted, women are fan- 
ning themselves, and men are going round on 
the shady side of the street.” 

“Nobody getting sunstruck, is there?” queried 
Fred with a grin. 

“Well, perhaps not as bad as that,” smiled 
Lee, “but take it altogether it’s almost as differ- 
ent there from what it is here as day is from 
night.” 

“I saw a picture the other day of some boys 
shinning up cocoanut trees somewhere in the 
middle of January,” remarked Sparrow. “It 
seems funny to think there should be such differ- 
ences in the same country.” 

“I’d like to spend some time down South,” 
said Bobby. “I’ve been out W^est and almost 
everywhere else in the country except the South. 
Of course we had a taste of what it was like when 
we went to Porto Eico. But I’d like to be some- 


Fire! 


61 


where in the South for weeks at a time, and learn 
just how diiferent things are from what they are 
here up North.’’ 

You’d enjoy it all right,” affirmed Lee. 
‘‘You can fairly live outdoors all the year round, 
and you’d find lots of things that would be strange 
and interesting. I ’d like to have you on my place 
where I could go round with you and show you 
the sights.” 

“That would be fine,” agreed Bobby. “What 
town in Louisiana do you live in, Lee?” 

“I don’t live in any town,” replied Lee. “The 
nearest town is Raneleigh, and that isn’t much 
more than a store and a railroad station. Mother 
and I live on a plantation. My folks have lived 
there for generations. My great grandfather 
had the property in the old days when Louisiana 
belonged to France.” 

“I guessed you were French or of French de- 
scent because of the name,” said Bobby. “Let’s 
see, wasn’t there a Cartier who had something to 
do with the discovery of America?” 

“There was a Cartier who discovered parts of 
America in 1534,” replied Lee, “and he, I be- 
lieve, was an ancestor of mine. That’s one bit 
of history that’s been pretty well dinned into 


62 


Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

me,” be added with a smile. ‘‘Our people, you 
know, put a lot of value on their ancestry, though 
I never cared much for it. My mother too was 
of French descent, as one can tell from her first 
name. Celeste.” 

“Is the plantation a big one?” asked Bobby. 

“Pretty big,” replied Lee, “though not 
as big as it was before the Civil War. That 
was in the days when people kept slaves, and 
our folk had a lot of them and thousands of acres 
of land. But ^fter the war was over, a lot of the 
land was sold, and now we have only a few hun- 
dred acres. And I don’t know how long we’ll 
have that,” he added, a shadow coming over his 
brow. 

“What do you mean?” asked Fred with ready 
sympathy. 

“Oh, we’re having trouble about the boundary 
lines of the property,” explained Lee. “Some 
of the stones that mark the lines are missing, and 
there’s a neighbor of ours named Boolus who’s 
claiming part of the property. We’re sure he is 
wrong, but we’re not able to prove it, and he’s 
making us lots of trouble. He’s one of the 
meanest men in the parish and everybody hates 
and despises him. But he’s got lots of money 


Fire! 


63 


and tricky lawyers, and it looks as though he 
were going to get the best of us. But I don’t 
want to bother you about my troubles,” Lee 
added, brightening up. ‘‘I only wish I had you 
fellows down with me on the plantation while we 
still own it. I think I might be able to show you 
lots of things that would make you open your 
eyes, such as alligators and — ” 

‘‘Alligators!” exclaimed Fred. “Do you have 
them down there?” 

“You see you’ve made Fred open his eyes al- 
ready,” said Bobby with a laugh. 

“There are lots of them,” said Lee, “and big 
ones too. There’s a big swamp on the edge of 
our property that they say is full of them. It’s 
lots of fun hunting them.” 

“Have you ever hunted them?” asked Spar- 
row with intense interest. 

“I’ve never gone after them alone,” replied 
Lee, “but I’ve gone along with hunting parties 
and seen them caught.” 

“How do they do it?” asked Fred. 

“They dig them out of their holes,” explained 
Lee, pleased that he could tell the boys something 
outside the range of their experience. “You see 
the alligators have holes or burrows in the 


64 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

neighborhood of the water, where they crawl in 
at times. The hunters go along until they spy 
one of these burrows, which are not very deep 
below the surface of the ground. Then one of 
them takes a stout rope, makes a noose in it and 
hangs this over the entrance to the hole. Others 
take a sharp spear or stake, and prod into the 
ground above where they know the alligator is 
lying. That stirs him up and he crawls out of 
his hole to see what^s the matter. As he comes 
out he sticks his head into the noose, and the man 
above tightens it before he can back out. The 
brute tries to pull back into his burrow, but all 
hands get hold of the rope and yank him out. 
As his body appears, other ropes are passed 
around him, and by the time he’s all out he’s 
pretty well trussed up. Sometimes though, he 
puts up an awful fight and breaks the ropes, and 
then you have to look out. If you ever come 
within reach of his jaws or the swish of his tail, 
it’s all up with you.” 

‘‘It must be awfully exciting,” exclaimed Fred. 

“It is that all right,” agreed Lee. “Then we 
have lots of other sports in which there’s plenty 
of fun. There’s badger hunting, and coon hunt- 
ing with the dogs at night, and once in a while a 


Fire! 


65 


panther comes round, and take it altogether there 
isn^t much dullness on the plantation. I only 
wish you fellows could share the fun with me.^^ 

^‘There’s nothing I’d like better,” said Bobby, 
and his companions nodded assent. ‘‘But Loui- 
siana’s a long way off, and I guess we’ll have to 
take it out in wishing. I suppose we’ll have to 
go now,” he added, reaching for his cap, “though 
I’d like to stay for hours and hear you tell us 
things about the South.” 

“It’s done me a lot of good to have you fel- 
lows drop in,” said Lee. “The days seem 
mighty long here with no one but the doctor and 
the nurse to see and talk to. Come in again just 
as often as you can.” 

“We sure will,” replied Bobby, “and you must 
hurry and get well so as to be around with us 
again.” 

That night Bobby found it hard to get to sleep. 
The talk with Lee had brought novel ideas into 
his mind, and he lay awake for a long time, con- 
juring up visions of what life must be on a plan- 
tation. 

When at last he did fall asleep, he dreamed 
that he was pushing a flatboat along a Louisiana 
lagoon. On the shores about him were a number 


66 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

of what seemed to be logs of wood. Suddenly 
one of them moved and slipped into the water, 
and he saw that it was an alligator. One after 
the other, things that looked like logs did the 
same. The presence of so many of the ugly 
brutes made him uneasy, and he made his craft 
move faster to get out of the vicinity as soon as 
possible. Just as he was congratulating himself 
that he had gotten out of the danger zone, the 
water broke at the side of the boat, and a pair of 
great jaws appeared, above which were the men- 
acing eyes of a big alligator. The brute made a 
lunge at the boat and nearly overturned it. 
Bobby tried to beat him off with the pole, and 
while he was doing so, another alligator appeared 
on the other side of the boat. A moment more 
and the water was fairly alive with the fearsome 
creatures, and Bobby was surrounded by a circle 
of open jaws and frightful teeth and flaming 
eyes. He struck out desperately, but to no avail. 
The circle closed around him, and one of the 
brutes with a blow of his tail stove in the side 
of the boat. He felt himself sinking, saw a ter- 
rible pair of jaws reach out to seize him and — - 
woke up to find himself sitting bolt upright in 
bed while a cold sweat bedewed his forehead. 


Fire! 


67 


It was a minute or so before be could realize 
that it had been only a dream, and then with a 
feeling of immense relief he adjusted his pillow 
and burrowed his head into its soft folds. 

The snow was beating against the windows, and 
the contrast between the wintry storm and the 
hot lagoon of his dream brought a smile to his 
lips. 

^^Gee!’’ he said to himself. ^‘If any alligators 
were up this way they^d freeze to death sure.’^ 

He lay listening in dreamy content, when he 
became conscious of another noise that was not 
like that of the snow on the windows. It sounded 
more like a crackling. He sat up in bed and 
listened. The sound became more distinct. And 
then to his nostrils came the odor of smoke. 

He was out of bed in a twinkling. He opened 
the door of his room and the odor grew stronger. 
He traced it along the hall to the door of a store- 
room at the end of the corridor. 

He flung open the door and fell back appalled. 
The storeroom was a seething mass of fire ! 


CHAPTER VII 


AT BISK OF LIFE 

Foe a moment Bobby’s heart stood still. 

The next instant he had slammed the door shut, 
so as to prevent the spread of the flames as much 
as possible. Then he raced through the hall, 
banging on the doors of the various rooms and 
shouting at the top of his voice : 

“Fire! Fire! The school is on fire!” 

There was a sound of answering shouts from 
the startled inmates of the rooms, and doors were 
torn open, showing frightened and bewildered 
faces. 

Not stopping for a moment, Bobby ran up the 
stairs to the room where hung the great bell of 
the school. He grasped the rope and pulled it 
back and forth with all his might, and the bell 
sent out its clangor into the night, rousing the 
people from their slumbers for miles around. 

Down the stairs Bobby sprang and rushed to 
the telephone. He called up the fire station in 
68 


At Eisk of Life 


69 


the town, of Eockledge and told the news, getting 
an answer that the engine would he rushed out as 
fast as possible. 

Then Bobby ran back to his room, pushing his 
way through the confused and shouting groups 
of boys who had rushed into the halls in all stages 
of dress and undress, and began hurriedly to 
slip on his own clothes, answering as well as he 
could the questions put by Fred, who was already 
nearly dressed. 

‘‘Are the fellows all outT’ asked Fred, as he 
slipped on his jacket. 

“I guess so, replied Bobby, as he finished lac- 
ing his shoes. “I banged on all the doors, and 
then too the ringing of the bell would wake the 
dead. I passed most of them already out in the 
hall. Oh, but there ^s Lee!^’ he fairly shouted, 
jumping to his feet. “His room^ is oif from the 
rest and it^s just across from where the fire is! 
We’ve got to get him out.” 

He threw open the door and started down, the 
hall. But just then flames burst through the door 
of the burning room and swept completely across 
the hall, barring the passage. 

Like a flash, Bobby was back in the room. He 
seized a towel and thrust it into the pitcher of 


70 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

water that stood on the washstand. Then he 
wound the dripping folds about his head 

‘‘Take the pitcher and dash the rest of the 
Water over me!^^ he shouted to Fred. “Quick 

Fred did so and Bobby darted out of the room. 

Down, the hall he went and made a flying leap 
through the flames holding his breath as he did so, 
in order that he might not inhale the fire. He 
reached Lee’s door and rushed in. 

The room was full of smoke, and Lee, half 
stupefied by it and hardly knowing what he was 
doing was staggering about. Bobby grabbed 
him by the arm and shook him. 

“Brace up, Lee!” he cried. 

With the other hand he picked up a heavy bath- 
robe and threw it over Lee’s head and shoulders. 
Then he started to lead him to the door, but Lee 
had not been on his feet for so long that his knees 
gave way under him. 

At that instant, Fred, who had also drenched 
himself from head to foot, appeared at his side, 
and Bobby heaved a sigh of relief. 

“Let’s wrap his head and shoulders in this 
bathrobe,” panted Bobby. “Then you take his 
feet and I’ll take his head, and we’ll make a break 
to get through.” 


At Eisk of Life 


71 


Fred helped as directed, and closing their eyes 
when they neared the darting flames, they got 
through with their burden just in time to deliver 
Lee into the hands of Dr. Eaymond and Mr. Car- 
rier, who had come rushing in .half dressed from 
the adjoining building. The half-unconscious 
boy was taken to a safe place and ministered to, 
and then Dr. Eaymond and the teachers turned 
their attention to fighting the fire, first having 
made sure that all the pupils were accounted 
for. 

By this time the flames had gained consider- 
able headway, and had broken through the par- 
titions into adjoining rooms. Hand grenades 
were brought into use, but could do little toward 
checking the fire. Then a bucket brigade was or- 
ganized, and the boys worked like Trojans in 
passing the buckets from hand to hand. But the 
flames were not entirely extinguished until help 
arrived from the town. Then a powerful stream 
was turned on and the fire was speedily gotten un- 
der control. 

It was after midnight before the danger was 
over, and much later than that v^hen the fire 
company thought it safe to depart, leaving one of 
their number to guard against any renewal of 


72 Bobby JBlake on a Plantation 

the flame from the sodden and smouldering em- 
bers. 

Then the boys, who were utterly fagged out 
by the excitement and the hard work they had 
been doing, had time to take an account of matters. 
Some of the rooms had been burned out alto- 
gether, including that occupied by Bobby and 
Fred. They had had time however to remove 
most of their clothes and personal belongings, 
but the other contents of the rooms were practi- 
cally a total loss. 

Personally they had gotten off with only trifling 
hurts and burns. Fred’s hair had been singed 
and Bobby’s hands had some blisters, incurred 
by that rapid rush through the flames, and some 
of the other boys had minor injuries, incurred 
chiefly in the effort to save their belongings. 
But none had perished and none had been seri- 
ously hurt, and in this they found ample reason 
for thanksgiving. 

‘‘Gee, Bobby, but it was lucky that you woke 
up just then ! ’ ’ exclaimed Shiner. ‘ ‘ If you hadn ’t, 
a lot of us might have been burned to death.” 

“It’s lucky that I had that nightmare,” re- 
plied Bobby with a grin, and he narrated the de- 
tails of his fight with the alligators in his dream. 


At Risk of Life 


73 


‘‘If I hadn^t been shocked awake by that/^ he 
concluded, “I^d have been as sound asleep as the 
rest when the fire broke out/^ 

“It was an awful plucky thing that you and 
Fred did when you went through the fire for Lee,’' 
commented Mouser. “A little later and nobody 
could have got to him and he’d have been a goner 
sure/’ 

“I only hope it hasn’t set him back,” replied 
Bobby. “He wasn’t in shape to stand much ex- 
citement. ’ ’ 

Dr. Raymond and the rest of the teaching staff 
came up just then to make arrangements for the 
sleeping quarters of the boys who had been 
turned out of their rooms. Some were doubled 
up in rooms that had been left intact, and others 
were taken over in the adjoining wing, where some 
spare cots were installed for their use. None of 
the boys felt that they could sleep any more that 
!nig‘ht, but they obeyed orders just fhe same, 
and as a matter of fact all of them were asleep 
long before morning dawned. 

Having seen them all provided for, the doctor 
went back to his quarters, but not without first 
having a word with Bobby and Fred. 

“Again the school and myself are under a debt 


74 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

to yon, Blake,’’ be said. ‘‘You have shown 
again the quality of which I spoke to you two 
weeks ago, that of quick thinking. There is no 
doubt that if you and Martin had not acted as 
you did in regard to Cartier, he would have died 
in the flames.” 

“I never thought much of nightmares,” Bobby 
said to Fred, later on, as they crept into bed, 
“but I sure am glad I had that one. That dream 
alligator that nearly had his teeth in me was the 
best friend I ever had.” 

“Yes” agreed Fred, “and I’ll tell the world 
that he was the best friend Eockledge School ever 
had.” 


CHAPTER VIII 

AN UNEXPECTED VACATION 

The boys had been told before they retired that 
there would be no lessons the next day, and the 
breakfast hour was put one hour later, to the 
satisfaction of all but Pee Wee, who was in- 
clined to question the wisdom of the arrange- 
ment. To put off a meal on any pretext was to 
him a violation of the proper order of things. 
Still, as it occurred to him later, there was some 
satisfaction in the thought that he would have a 
better appetite and be able to eat more ; and this 
reconciled him to the situation. 

Of course there was only one topic of conversa- 
tion among the boys during and after the meal. 
The fire had banished everything else from their 
minds and conjecture was rife as to what changes 
if any it would make in the routine of the school. 
The incidents of the night were gone over from 
every angle, and the part that Bobby and Fred 

75 


76 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

had played was more discussed than any other 
feature. 

The boys made an inventory also of their per- 
sonal losses. In most cases that was not great. 
One or two had forgotten watches or scarf pins 
in the confusion, but cherished the hope that 
some of these might be found in the debris when 
the ruins had time to cool. 

‘‘I hope you didn^t lose your joke book, BiUy,’^ 
remarked Shiner. 

“I hope you did,’^ put in Fred with a grin. 

Billy looked scornfully at his would-be-torment- 
ors. 

‘‘I don’t have to depend on any joke book,” he 
rephed loftily. get the best things I spring on, 
you dubs right out of here,” and he touched his 
forehead. 

“How can you?” queried Sparrow. “Mr. 
Leith was telling us the other day that you 
couldn’t get anything out of a vacuum because 
there wasn’t anything in it.” 

Billy favored him with a stony stare. 

“Just to prove to you that you’re wrong,” he 
said, “I’ll ask you fellows a simple question, 
and I’m willing to bet that none of you can answer 
it. That ’ll show where the vacuums are. ’ ’ 


An Unexpected Vacation 


77 


There was no immediate acceptance of the chal- 
lenge, and the scorn in Billy’s eyes became more 
pronounced. 

‘‘Just as I thought,” he announced. “Every 
one of you has rooms to let in his upper story.” 

“Oh, well,” remarked Mouser, stung into ac- 
ceptance, “weVe stood so many of Billy’s jokes 
that one more won’t count. Go ahead, Billy, and 
get it off your chest.” 

The invitation was none too cordial, but Billy 
pounced on it. 

“All right,” he said, “here’s the question. 
What’s the best material for footwear?” 

“You tell him, razor, you’re sharp,” murmured 
Shiner. 

“You tell him, garter, you’ve got the snap,”' 
remarked Howell. 

“You tell him, goldfish, you’ve been round the 
globe,” put in Fred. 

Billy glared at the dispensers of these frivoli- 
ties. 

“You fellows are just trying to gain time to 
think up an answer,” he remarked cuttingly. 
“Come across now with the answer and prove 
that you’re not the dumb-bells I think you 


78 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Why, leather is the best material for foot- 
wear I suppose/^ hazarded Bobby. 

‘‘Wood lasts a long time; lots of people wear 
nothing but wooden shoes in Holland and other 
places in Europe/^ suggested Sheets. 

“How about canvas?’^ queried Shiner. “IVe 
got a pair of tennis shoes that IVe had for more 
than two years, and theyVe almost as good as 
ever. ’ ’ 

“All wrong, pronounced Billy. “You’ll 
have to do better than that. ’ ’ 

They cudgeled their brains, but the list of pos- 
sibilities seemed about exhausted, and at last 
they gave it up. 

“Well, Billy, let ’s have it, ’ ’ said Fred. ‘ ‘ What 
is the best material for footwear?” 

“Banana peels,” Billy answered promptly. 

The boys looked blankly at each other. 

“Come again,” urged Mouser, “I don’t get 
you.” 

^‘Why, you fatheads,” said Billy, “even you 
ought to know that banana peels make the best 
slippers. ’ ’ 

What might have happened to the perpetrator 
of this outrage will never be known, for at that 
moment a summons came from Dr. Eaymond for 


An Unexpected Vacation 79 

all the boys to come to the assembly hall of the 
school. 

When they obeyed and had all taken their 
places, Dr. Eaymond, who was seated on the plat- 
form with Mr. Leith and Mr. Carrier, and who 
looked worn and haggard after a sleepless night, 
arose to speak. 

‘‘The fire of last night was of course a great 
misfortune,’^ he said among other things, “not 
especially in a financial sense, for, as you may 
be glad to know, the building and furniture were 
fully covered by insurance. But it is regrettable 
that so many dormitory rooms were destroyed, 
for it makes it necessary for some of the pupils 
to suspend their studies for the month or more 
that may be necessary before the part of the 
school damaged by fire can be rebuilt. It may 
be necessary for them to work a little harder 
when they return in order to make up for lost 
time. With the exception of those who are thus 
excused, the work of the school will go on as 
usual. While we all are sorry that the fire oc- 
curred, that after all counts for little compared 
with the fact no one was seriously injured. I 
want before you all to say publicly what I have 
already said to them personally, that Blake and 


80 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

Martin by their quick thinking and brave action 
have brought credit to themselves and honor to 
Rockledge School.’’ 

Following his remarks, he read the list of those 
who would be given the unexpected and yet most 
welcome vacation. The boys listened breath- 
lessly, each one hoping that he might be among 
the favored ones, and when the reading finished 
there were many stifled sighs of disappointment 
on the part of the majority, while the eyes of the 
elect glowed with satisfaction. Bobby and Fred 
were on the list, as well as Mouser and Shiner 
and Lee, but none of their other close friends 
were included in the dozen or more to be ex- 
cused. 

The exodus was not to take place for a day or 
two, because time was required for packing and 
for proper notification of their parents. Tele- 
grams were already coming in from the latter 
who had heard or read of the fire, and the teach- 
ing staff had plenty of work in sending reassur- 
ing messages in reply. How the fire had started 
was a mystery. 

When finally the boys were dismissed, they 
gathered in groups, discussing eagerly the pro- 
gram that had been mapped out by the head of 


An Unexpected Vacation 81 

the school. Some were jubilant, others despond- 
ent. 

‘‘Scubbity-yow!’^ cried Fred, executing a jig. 
“Best news IVe heard since Sitting Bull sat 
down.’’ 

“I love my hooks, but, oh! you vacation,’’ 
chuckled Shiner. 

“If you feUows fell in the water, you’d come 
up with a fish m your mouth,” remarked Billy 
enviously. 

“Never mind, Billy,” comforted Fred. “You’ll 
have all the more time to think up some poor 
jokes to spring on us when we get back.” 

“I don’t know any poor ones,” replied Billy. 
“All of mine are good, too good anyway for 
you boobs to guess, I notice. By the way,” he 
continued, brightening up visibly, “here’s one of 
the best I ever thought of. Why is — ” 

“Officer, he’s crazy again,” groaned Fred. 

“Choke him off, somebody,” urged Mouser. 

“But listen,” pleaded Billy. 

“Not on your life,” was Shiner’s heartless re- 
joinder. “Here’s where we get a chance, fellows, 
to make Billy stew in his own. juice. It’ll break 
his heart to have a joke all ready to spring and 
nobody to listen to it.” 


82 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘^But you fellows don^t know what you^re miss- 
ing/^ warned Billy. ‘‘Why ought a cook — ’’ 

“Well admit she ought, right off the reel,^^ 
interrupted Sheets, “so suppose we let it go at 
that.^’ 

But Billy was not to be shaken from his prey, 
and he held on like grim death. 

“Why ought a cook to get good wages he 
demanded. 

“Because she needs the dough, replied Mouser 
promptly. The suddenness of the response nearly 
took Billy off his feet. 

“You must have heard that somewhere,’^ he 
said in a crestfallen way. 

“Noah sprang that on Mrs. Noah when they 
were in the Ark,’’ jibed Mouser. 

“I knew you wouldn’t have guessed it of your 
own accord,” retorted Billy, getting at least that 
much satisfaction out of his discomfiture. 

Shortly after dinner, Bobby and Fred went to 
call on Lee. They found him in much better con- 
dition than they had expected. They had feared 
that the excitement of his experience the night 
before might have given him a set-back, but on the 
contrary his eyes were bright, and there was 


An Unexpected Vacation 83 

more color in his face than had been there at 
any time since he had been taken ill. 

He was fervent in his thanks to Bobby and 
Fred for having saved his life, but they waved 
these aside and made as light of their own part 
in the proceedings as possible. 

‘Ht would certainly have been all up with me if 
it hadn ’t been for you fellows, ’ ’ declared Lee. ‘ ^ I 
suppose the smoke must have stupefied me before 
you came, because I can just remember stagger- 
ing about the room without even having sense 
enough to find the door. It was an awfully 
plucky thing for you boys to do, and I owe it to 
you that I^m not dead this minute. 

^‘You certainly look to be far enough from 
dead now,’’ laughed Bobby. 

‘‘Perhaps the shock and shaking up did me 
good instead of harm,” rejoined the boy from the 
South. “I certainly feel better than I did at this 
time yesterday.” 

“All the same, I guess the doctor wouldn’t pre- 
scribe it,” said Fred with a grin. 

“Probably not,” smiled Lee. “By the way I 
hear that you two fellows are going to have a va- 
cation.” 


84 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

Eight you are/’ chuckled Fred. ‘‘And 
maybe we’re not tickled to death about it, eh, 
Bobby?” 

“You bet!” returned Bobby happily. “But 
you’re on the list too, Lee, although for that mat- 
ter you’ve been having about all the vacation you 
wanted for the last two weeks.” 

“That was the wrong kind of vacation.” 

“Of course you’ll have to spend it here,” con- 
jectured Fred. 

“I’m not so sure of that,” replied Lee. “I 
was speaking to the doctor this morning and he 
said he thought I’d be able to make the trip home 
in two or three days from now. He thinks the 
warm southern weather is just what I need to 
bring me around all right again. So I telegraphed 
to my mother this morning about it and asked her 
to answer right away.” 

He had barely finished speaking when there 
was a knock at the door, and a messenger entered 
with a telegram. 

“Here it is now!” exclaimed Lee, his face 
lighting up with expectancy. “If you fellows will 
excuse me I’ll see what she says.” 

He ran his eyes eagerly over the telegram, 


An Unexpected Vacation 85 

which was an unusually long one, and before it 
was finished gave a whoop of delight. 

‘‘Sounds as though you had good news,^’ re- 
marked Bobby, as he saw the flushed face and 
sparkling eyes of his friend. 

“I should say so!’’ cried Lee, waving the yel- 
low slip above his head. “Listen to this part of 
it, fellows: ‘I cannot tell you how grateful I am 
to the brave boys who saved your life, and I want 
you to be sure to bring them along with you for a 
visit, if they would care to come.’ How about it 
fellows! Will you come along with me!” 

“If we would care to come!” repeated Bobby. 
“You bet we’ll come!” 

“Will a duck swim!” asked Fred, wild with de- 
light at the vista opened up by the invitation. 
“That is,” he added a little more soberly, “if the 
folks at home will let us go.” 

“Of course,” agreed Bobby. “But I haven’t 
much doubt about that. They let us go West on 
a ranch, and I don’t see why they shouldn’t be 
just as willing to have us go down South on a 
plantation. Come along, Fred, and we’ll write 
to them now, so that the letters will get to them 
to-morrow.” 


86 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Why not telegraphT’ asked Fred, who was 
bubbling over with excitement and impatience. 

‘‘It would cost too mucb,’^ replied practical 
Bobby. “Wedl have to write good long letters to 
explain everything and get them to let us go.^’ 

“Put it strong,’’ counseled Lee. “I’ll be ter- 
ribly disappointed if you can’t go with me. And 
I know that my mother will, too. I want to show 
you what life is on a real old-fashioned Southern 
plantation. ’ ’ 

“Don’t you worry,” replied Bobby. “If we 
can’t go, you can be sure that it won’t be any fault 
of ours.” 

They put all their powers of persuasion into the 
letters they wrote, and were especially urgent that 
the answers should be sent at once. Then they 
waited with feverish impatience for the replies. 

These were not long in coming, for the second 
day after they wrote they received the answers. 
They tore the letters open with quaking hearts, 
for fear that they might prove unfavorable. 
And their delight was beyond bounds when they 
found that they might go. There were long let- 
ters of advice and injunctions to take the best 
care of themselves. And there was also in each 


An Unexpected Vacation 87 

letter a substantial check to cover all expenses of 
the trip. It was made plain to both that the 
ready agreement to let them go was largely due 
to their behavior at the time of the fire, and was 
in the nature of a reward. 

To save a great deal of unnecessary traveling, 
it was arranged that the boys should go directly 
from Rockledge School to New York. It was 
thought best that they should go South by boat, 
instead of rail, and a separate letter to Dr. Eay- 
mond requested that he should telegraph for pas- 
sage and stateroom in advance, and make what 
other arrangements might be necessary for the 
trip. 

As may be imagined, the next two days were 
busy ones for the three boys. But at last all was 
ready, and with a big send-off from their chums, 
they took the train for New York. The journey 
was a pleasant though uneventful one, and they 
reached the city too late to do anything but go 
directly to their stateroom on the boat. 

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, 
they took up their position on the rail and watched 
the scene of busy life on the pier. There was 
great noise and animation as the last freight was 


88 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

put into the hold and belated passengers hurried 
down to the vessel. But at last order was 
brought out of confusion and the bell rang the 
signal for ‘‘All Ashore. 


CHAPTER IX 


OFF FOR THE SOUTH 

Amh) the jangling of engine room bells, the 
hiss of escaping steam, and the hoarse cries of the 
deck hands, the boat moved majestically out into 
the broad river, two small but very efficient tug- 
boats pushed and hauled at the heavy steamer, 
butting their stubby noses desperately against 
her towering sides to counteract the effects of the 
strong tide. Long strings of heavily loaded 
barges, towed by other snorting tugs, passed up 
and down stream, while numerous ferryboats 
added their bit to the heavy river traffic. 

Leaning over the rail, the three friends were 
absorbed in watching this busy scene. To them 
it seemed impossible that their own boat could 
get safely started without colliding with any of 
the swarming smaller craft. But after much 
maneuvering and tooting of whistles the big 
steamer finally got her nose pointing downstream 
and headed slowly for the lower bay. 

89 


90 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Gee!’’ exclaimed Bobby, drawing a deep 
breath, “I don’t understand yet how we got out 
here without bumping something. I always 
thought it was kind of hard to dodge eleven men 
on a football field without coming to grief, but 
this makes it look easy.” 

“Well, it always did seem to be easy enough 
for you, as far as that goes,” remarked Fred. 
“But don’t forget we’ve got lots of chances yet 
to hit something before we get to New Orleans. 
The man that steers this overgrown canoe may 
go to sleep and land us on some nice hard rocks, 
or we may hit a floating wreck, or — ” 

“Don’t stop,” urged Lee, as Fred hesitated a 
moment in search of some other ghastly possi- 
bility, “you’ll have us really enjoying this trip 
pretty soon. Somebody please tie a life pre- 
server on me.” 

“Well, perhaps you’ve never been on anything 
bigger than Monatook Lake, and it’s only right 
that we experienced sailors should prepare you 
for the worst. Of course, we may be lucky 
enough to get there all right, but whatever hap- 
pens, you can’t say we didn’t warn you.” 

“This is a nice time to warn a fellow, isn’t it?” 


Off for the South 


91 


said Lee, with a grin, ^‘but I’m not going to ask 
the captain to stop the boat now and let me walk 
ashore, so you may as well save all those cheer- 
ful predictions for some other time.” 

‘‘He won’t scare worth two cents, will he?” 
laughed Bobby. “But maybe when he gets his 
first dose of seasickness he won’t feel so cheer- 
ful.” 

While the boys were talking, the ship had made 
steady progress, and now, passing the Statue of 
Liberty, was well into the lower bay. Here the 
tugs left it, and the great steamer vibrated from 
stem to stern as its powerful engines took up the 
task appointed them. In quick succession they 
passed the Ambrose and Sandy Hook lights, and 
began to feel the roll and heave of the great blue 
ocean. 

“Isn’t this great?” exclaimed Bobby. “Just 
fill your lungs with that air, fellows.” 

“The air is fine, all right,” said Fred. “But 
a little something to fill my stomach wouldn’t be 
so awful bad, either.” 

“That sounds like Pee Wee,” laughed Bobby. 
“But since you mention it, I begin to feel hungry 
too. How about you, Lee?” 


92 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘You bet/’ exclaimed the boy from the South, 
but his voice lacked the tone of sincerity. Fred 
looked at him and grinned. 

‘ ‘ What ’s the matter, Lee ? ” he inquired. “You 
don’t mean to tell me you’re feeling seasick, do 
you?” 

“Of course I’m not seasick.” 

“No, of course he isn’t seasick,” said Bobby, 
with a wink at Fred. “He just doesn’t feel well, 
that’s all. People are often that way on salt 
water. It must be something about the air, I 
guess.” 

“Yes, that’s probably it,” agreed Fred, in a 
tone of deep sympathy. “What you need, Lee, 
is a good bang up supper to set you up. How 
would a nice pork chop or two hit you?” 

“I don’t know how they’d hit me, but I do 
know that something is going to hit you pretty 
quick, if you don’t stop talking about eats,” re- 
torted Lee. “You two go on down and eat your 
heads off. I’m going to stay up here a while. I 
had a big lunch, anyway.” 

“Well, you probably won’t have it much 
longer,” was Fred’s parting shot, as he and 
Bobby started on a run for the dining room. 

There were a number of empty places around 


Off for the South 


93 


the tables, but Bobby and Fred enjoyed the meal 
hugely, with appetites no whit affected by the 
uneasy motion of the ship. When they had fin- 
ished, they went on deck again, and found Lee 
coiled up in a steamer chair, and looking far from 
happy. 

‘‘Guess I’ll have to admit that I’m seasick, 
he said, with a somewhat feeble grin, “but I’ve 
got lots of company, anyway. Most everybody 
I ’ve seen so far seems to be as bad or worse than 
I am.” 

“Oh, well, it probably won’t last long,” said 
Bobby. “If you can get a decent rest to-night, 
you’ll be all right in the morning.” 

“I wouldn’t mind so much now if we did hit 
some of those rocks Fred was talking about,” 
went on the boy from the South. “If I could 
get onto a nice solid rock right now, I know I’d 
feel a whole lot better.” 

But when the next morning came, the ocean was 
very calm, and Lee felt almost himself again, so 
that he could aid his two friends in their attacks 
on the excellent meals that were provided for 
them. They read, played deck games, and alto- 
gether enjoyed themselves immensely. On the 
second day of the trip, they noticed that the air 


94 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

was becoming perceptibly warmer, and knew that 
they were getting into southern waters. Schools 
of porpoises raced with the ship, and the boys 
never tired watching them shooting through the 
water just under the ship ’s bows, and keeping up 
their speed without any apparent effort. Several 
times they saw little flying fish, and once Fred 
was sure that he saw a shark, but when the ship 
came up with the object that he had seen, it 
proved to be nothing more ferocious than a half 
submerged log. 

‘‘Some sailor, you are,’’ said Lee, anxious to 
get even with Fred for some of the remarks 
passed on his own seamanship. “I may not be as 
salty as some people think they are, but still I 
can tell fishes from trees. ’ ’ 

“Well, I’m glad you know that much, anyway,” 
said Fred. “You certainly are coming along 
fast. Some day, when you get over calling port- 
holes windows, you ’ll be a real sailor. ’ ’ 

“I don’t think I ever want to be a sailor,” re- 
torted Lee. “Good old solid ground is good 
enough for me. Seems to me this old tub is 
jumping around worse all the time.” 

“It would be strange if it didn’t,” said Bobby. 


Off for the South 95 

‘‘The wind is getting stronger every minute, and 
it^s working up some pretty big seas.’’ 

Almost as he finished speaking a big wave 
dashed against the bow, and showered them with 
spray. 

“I’m going some place where it’s dry!” gasped 
the boy from the South, and dashed for the com- 
panionway. Bobby and Fred lingered a while, 
but were soon forced to seek shelter in the lee 
of a deckhouse. They could see members of the 
crew going about making every movable object 
fast, and they guessed that they were in for a 
storm. 


CHAPTER X 


HAX.F A GALE 

In an incredibly short space of time a heavy 
sea was running, and the big ship, which at its 
dock had seemed so solid and immovable, was 
tossed about almost wholly at the will of the angry 
waves. The bow would rise up and up as it met 
a rushing hill of frothing green water, then, as 
the giant wave rushed astern, the bow would dip, 
and the whole vessel would seem to be coasting 
down into a frothing valley. Crests of the big 
rollers, picked up and flung aboard by the howl- 
ing wind, drenched any hardy soul who ventured 
on deck. Sometimes the bow would not lift 
quickly enough to an onrushing wave, and the 
water would crash down on the forecastle with a 
tremendous impact and rush aft, sweeping any 
movable object along with it. 

The engines were throttled down to ‘‘half 
speed ahead,” which eased the laboring of the 
96 


Half a Gale 


97 


vessel somewhat. Night fell early over a wild 
and desolate waste of tossing waters, and even 
the three carefree hoys were sobered somewhat 
as they gazed through tightly bolted portholes 
at the scene without. Lee was frankly seasick 
again, and even Bobby and Fred had to admit 
that they ^‘felt a little 

‘‘But anyway, a storm like this isn’t likely to 
last long,” remarked Bobby. “It came up in a 
hurry, and hkely will go down just as fast.” 

“It can’t go too fast to suit me,” groaned Lee^ 
“ ‘A life on, the rolling deep’ may be all right 
for some people, but it rolls entirely too much to 
be popular with me.” 

“Not to mention how deep it is when the ship 
happens to sink,” said Fred. “Whether we like it 
or not, we’ve got to admit that the man who wrote 
that poetry knew what he was talking about.” 

“Well, it’s time for supper, and I’m going to 
have some,” said Bobby. “What do you say, 
fellows ? Are you with me ’ 

“Guess you’ll have to count me out,” replied 
the boy from the South. “I don’t think food 
and I will ever be friends again. ’ ’ 

Bobby and Fred managed to satisfy their ap- 
petites, although the dishes persisted in dodging 


98 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

here and there in a most disconcerting manner, 
and never seemed to be satisfied until they had 
settled themselves comfortably in some one’s lap. 
Most of the passengers were keeping to their 
staterooms, and taken altogether, the meal was 
not exactly a cheerful atfair. All three of the 
boys turned into their berths soon afterward, and 
by dint of wedging themselves in with pillows and 
rolled up articles of clothing, managed to get 
a fairly good night’s rest. 

In the morning the wind appeared to have 
blown itself out, and as the boys were dressing a 
weak and watery shaft of sunlight came stream- 
ing through the porthole. 

‘‘That certainly looks good to me,” said Lee, 
who still looked rather pale and unhappy. “If 
ever I get back on dry land, I’m going to stay 
there a while.” 

“It won’t feel bad for a change,” admitted 
Fred, “and with a little luck we ought to make 
it in another day or two. We’d have gotten in 
without this delay if it hadn’t been for the 
storm.” 

After breakfast the boys went on deck, and 
found the ocean much moderated, although still 
far from calm. After a little, they found them- 


Half a Gale 


99 


selves near the door of the wireless room, and 
were soon chatting with the operator on duty, 
who seemed to he a genial sort of fellow. He and 
the boys were soon on the best of terms, and he 
explained the workings of some of the simpler 
parts of the apparatus. 

suppose a night like last night keeps you 
fellows pretty busy, doesn’t it?” inquired Bobby. 

‘^Yes, we have to he right on the job,” an- 
swered Quinn, the wireless operator, ‘‘although 
last night wasn’t as bad as many I’ve been 
through. We didn’t get an S. 0. S. call once.” 

“From the way this ship was acting,” said 
Lee, ruefully, “I should think it would be more 
likely that we would be sending a call for help 
instead of receiving it.” 

“Why, that wasn’t any more than a brisk 
breeze compared to some of the blows I’ve been 
through,” said Quinn. “I remember one night 
on the North Sea when it really did blow some. 
And as far as that goes, I’m willing to bet that 
everybody else on that ship remembers it, too.” 

“Was it so very bad, then?” inquired Bobby. 

“Well, at that time I was doing duty on a con- 
verted yacht. We were guarding a convoy, and 
one by one the other patrol boats made for port, 


100 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

being unable to stay out any longer. But our 
captain refused to give up, and finally we were 
the only boat left. Well, the wind kept blowing 
harder and the seas rising, until the only wonder 
is that we weren^t swamped altogether. Tre- 
mendous seas were following us, and at last one 
monster came right aboard over the after rail. 
It slammed up against the wireless shack, and 
before we knew what had happened, we and the 
shack were carried bodily forward. We thought 
that our last minute had come, but, luckily for 
us, the wireless house was slammed up against 
the forward deck house. Then it went to pieces 
entirely. I made a grab for the first thing my 
hand met, which happened to be a mast stay, and 
hung on for all I knew how. It seemed to me 
that I was under water for an age, but the big 
wave finally passed, and I crawled back to the 
deck more dead than alive. Yes, that was a real 
rough night at sea, 1 11 admit. ’ ^ 

‘‘How about the other wireless meiiT^ queried 
Fred. “Did they come through all right 
“Well, by a miracle neither was swept over- 
board, but Pearsall, who had just joined the ship 
a week or two before, broke his right arm. But 


Half a Gale 101 

he considered himself lucky to be alive at all. 
We all did, for that matter.’’ 

‘‘I should think you would be,” said Bobby, 
‘‘and I suppose you had plenty of other narrow 
escapes besides that one.” 

“Plenty is right,” assented Quinn, “Why, I 
remember one winter afternoon we got an S. 0. S. 
from a munition ship that had caught fire. It 
was some eighty miles to the west of us, and by the 
time we reached it, it was right on the edge of 
dark. When we got there, the fire was at its 
height. Most of their boats had been wrecked 
by the explosions of ammunition as the fire 
reached it, and most of the crew were in the water, 
some with life preservers, and others clinging to 
bits of floating wreckage. It was like going 
through a barrage to get near them. But we 
lowered our boats and finally got the last man 
safely aboard. Then we steamed away at a rate 
the old hooker had never hit up before, because 
we knew that when the fire reached the main 
hold there would be a blowup that would pretty 
well clean everything that happened to be around 
right off the water. And we weren’t a bit too 
soon either, because we hadn’t covered more than 


102 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

half a mile when the blazing wreck exploded with 
a slam that you could hear for fifty miles. As it 
was, we were pretty well shaken up, but got off 
without any serious damage. But it was pretty 
ticklish business while we were cruising round 
a cable’s length away, picking the crew out of 
the water.” 


CHAPTER. XI 


QUICK THINKING 

must have taken some nerve to do it at 
all,’’ declared Lee admiringly. 

‘^Well, we knew they’d have done the same 
thing for us, if conditions had been the other way 
round,” said Quinn. ‘‘If seamen didn’t help 
each other out that way, the life would be even 
harder than it is.” 

The hoys were eager to hear more of the wire- 
less man’s adventures, and he, nothing loth, spun 
them more than one yarn of exciting episodes in 
far comers of the earth, for he had been almost 
everywhere that ships go. He was often inter- 
rupted by messages coming or going, hut the boys 
were fascinated by his stories, and could hardly 
tear themselves away when dinner time came. 

“That man has surely seen a lot,” remarked 
Bobby, while they were eating an excellent meal, 
“and he knows how to tell about what he has 
seen, too. I’m sorry we -didn’t get acquainted 
with him earlier on the trip.” 

103 


104 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘^So am agreed Lee, ‘‘but hell be on duty 
again this evening, and if we get a chance we 
can look him up then/^ 

After lunch the three friends went on deck 
again. The sea by this time was quite calm, and 
the boys strolled over to the port side and, lean- 
ing on the rail, gazed idly out over the broad ex- 
panse of waters. 

Suddenly the lads heard a shrill yell and a 
heavy splash alongside the ship. One of the 
mess boys, a young negro, had been sitting care- 
lessly on the rail not far from where the boys 
were standing, when a sudden lurch of the vessel 
had thrown him off his balance and he had made 
a clean dive overboard. 

For a second the boys were stunned by the 
unexpectedness of the accident. Then Bobby 
whipped out his jacknife, cut loose a life preserver 
that Fred was trying to loosen, and tossed it to 
the struggling negro in the water. He judged 
his distance so accurately that the buoy landed 
within a foot or two of the unfortunate darkey, 
who with a desperate struggle caught hold of it. 

Meanwhile, Fred and Lee were shouting “man 
overboard,’^ and the cry, passed from mouth to 
mouth, reached the bridge. The engine room 



Bobby cut loose a life preserver and tossed it 
to the struggling negro. 




105 


Quick Thinking 

telegraph rang ‘‘stop’’ and then “full speed 
astern.” Almost before the big ship had come to 
a shuddering standstill, a boat had been lowered, 
and in short time they had the gasping darkey 
boy aboard. 

“Mah Lan’ Sakes!” he sputtered, “Ah don’t 
known who-all threw me dat life p ’server, but 
whoevah did saved mah life. Ah reckon, an I’se 
shuah enough grateful.” 

“Well, who was it threw you the preserver, 
and how in time did you come to fall overboard 
and make us all this trouble f ’ ’ inquired the mate, 
who in his official capacity thought more of the 
time lost than of the narrow escape from death 
the httle darkey had had. 

“Ah cain’t say, suh, jes huccome I to fall ovah- 
boahd,” said the little darkey. “Seems like Ah 
don’t nevah go to git me a little rest on dis yeah 
ship but whut somethin’ happens. Ole ship jes 
gives a roll an’ heaves me clean ovah de side. 
Ah ain’t sure who give me dat life p ’server, but 
seems like they was three fellers standin’ by the 
rail, and one of ’em done heave it out at me so 
it pretty near lands plumb aroun’ mah neck.” 

“Yes, but don’t you know who it was?” per- 
sisted the mate. 


106 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘^Well, suh, seems to me it was one of them,’’ 
pointing to where Bobby, Fred and Lee were 
standing, ^^but Ah couldn’t rightly say which 
one.” 

“Was it one of you?” inquired the mate, turn- 
ing to them. 

“WeH” said Bobby, “I guess I’ll have to 
plead guilty. We heard him splash overboard, 
and luckily there was a life preserver right near 
us, so I threw it over to him.” 

“It was rather lucky for young ’Eastus here,” 
commented the officer. “Your name is ’Eastus, 
isn’t it?” addressing the little darkey. 

“Yessuh, dat’s part of it,” returned ’Eastus, 
with a grin that seemed to show every tooth he 
possessed. 

“What’s the rest of it?” inquired Bobby. 

“Mah full name am ’Eastus Abimilech Bel- 
shazzar Johnson,” said the little negro, evidently 
taking no small pride in this pretentious title. 

“It’s a wonder we’re still afloat with a name 
like that aboard,” exclaimed Mr. Parr, the mate. 
“But you’d better get down below, ’Eastus, and 
get some dry clothes on.” 

“Ah sho’ craves to git me some dry duds,” 


107 


Quick Thinking 

said ^Eastus. furdermo’, ’fore Ah goes Ah 

wants t’ thank, ynh, white boy, for heavin’ me 
dat cork doughnut de way yuh did. Ah’d be 
confabulatin’ wid de little fishes down at de 
bottom of de ocean if yuh hadn’t.” 

“Oh, that’s all right,” said Bobby. “Next 
time you’d better be sure you’ve got a good toe- 
hold before you decorate the rail.” 

“Yessuh,” said ’Eastus, meekly, and departed 
for the lower regions of the ship, leaving a wet 
trail on the white deck to mark his going. 

The crowd of passengers that had assembled 
all wanted to shake hands with Bobby at once, 
and were inclined to make a hero of him, but 
nothing was further from that young gentleman’s 
mind, and as soon as possible the three friends 
made their escape. 

“Whew!” exclaimed Bobby, mopping his face, 
“you’d have thought I had really done some- 
thing, to listen to that crowd.” 

“Well, I should say you have done something,” 
chuckled Lee. “You’ve saved the longest name 
I ever heard in my life from getting drowned, 
haven’t you?” 

“Well, I guess that’s right enough,” laughed 


108 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

Bobby. I had known ^Eastus’ full name, I’d 
have slung him two life preservers, for fear one 
wouldn’t be able to float it.” 

‘‘It is a mighty big name for such a little ras- 
cal,” said Fred, “but he seemed grateful enough, 
Bobby. Maybe he ’ll do you a good turn some day. 
You never can tell.” 


CHAPTER Xn 


UNDEB SUNNY SKIES 

It was early one morning that the ship warped 
into her berth at New Orleans. The three 
friends were np bright and early, as they knew 
that the steamer would dock shortly after dawn, 
and they did not want to miss any of the ex- 
citement of the event. The big wharves were 
swarming with negro stevedores, who joked and 
sang good-naturedly as they shifted huge bales 
of cotton and boxes containing all manner of 
goods. Ships already at their docks, either 
loading or unloading, sent up puffs of steam as 
their cargo winches lifted huge nets full of bar- 
rels and boxes from the seemingly inexhaustible 
holds, or consigned them to the same place. 
Mule teams, horse teams, and big rumbling auto- 
mobile trucks came and went, getting in each 
other’s way and giving rise to short but forceful 
arguments on the part of their drivers. In a 
word, all the varied bustle and activity of a large 

109 


110 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

and busy port was spread out for the boys to 
view from their vantage point on the upper deck. 

On the dock for which they were heading, a 
group of negro laboi^ens was waiting for .the 
vessel to be made fast, and suddenly one of them 
started a spirited ‘‘buck and wing^^ dance, the 
others singing, whistling, and keeping time by 
clapping their hands. As the ship crept up to 
the dock at a snaiPs pace, many of the passen- 
gers crowded over to the starboard side, where 
the boys were standing, and when the perspiring 
dancer finally ended with a double shufiie and a 
bow, he was rewarded by a shower of coins that 
rained down from the side of the ship which was 
now being warped up to the dock and made fast. 

“Some pap to that boy,” commented Fred. 
“You^d think they’d save their energy for the 
work ahead of them.” 

“Oh, a negro always has time and energy for 
a little fun, no matter how hard he has to work,” 
replied Lee. “I’ve seen, them dancing and cut- 
ting up after a long day of cotton picking, and 
that’s about as hard work as I know anything 
about.” 

But there was no longer much time to spend 


Ill 


Under Sunny Skies 

on the deck, for now the gangplank had been shot 
out and the passengers were beginning to stream 
over it. This reminded the boys that they also 
had some strapping and bundling to do, and they 
rushed to their stateroom and got to work. In 
a few minutes all their packing had been done, 
and with warm good-bys to the officers and many 
of the passengers, with whom they had become 
favorites, they left the steamer. 

‘‘Seems like an. old friend, already, com- 
mented Bobby, as they walked along the pier. 
“I don’t wonder that sailors fall in love with 
their ships.” 

“I suppose any place begins to seem like home 
after you’ve been there for a while,” replied 
Fred. “But as for me give me terra cotta every 
time.” 

“Terra firma I suppose you mean,” laughed 
Lee. 

“Let it go at that,” said Fred carelessly. 
“What’s one word more or less between friends?” 

A stalwart young negro was lying on a bale of 
cotton, basking like a cat in the hot sun. The 
leader of a gang of roustabouts came hurrying 
along looking for men. 


112 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Got a job for you, Sam/^ be said. “This 
steamer’s got to be unloaded in a hurry. Come 
along now and I’ll put you in a gang.” 

“Nothin’ doin, boss,” replied the negro with a 
yawn. 

“Why, what’s the matter with you?” remon- 
strated his would be employer. “It was only 
yesterday you were striking me for a job.” 

“Ya-as,” replied the other, as he yawned and 
turned over for another nap, “but dat war yes- 
terday. Ah made two bits dis momin’, an now 
Ah got money in mah pocket. Go ’way, man, an’ 
let me sleep.” 

With a gesture of disgust the other hurried 
away to look for more likely material. The boys 
looked at each other and laughed. 

“You see from that what we’re up against 
down here,” said Lee. “That’s the way most of 
them are. As long as they have money enough 
for their next meal, they’re perfectly satisfied. 
That man with a few cents in his pockets is as 
happy as if he were a millionaire.” 

They had about two hours before it was time 
for their train to start, and as it was nearly noon, 
the first thing they did was to get a hearty meal. 
Then they spent a little while roaming about the 


113 


Under Sunny Skies 

beautiful and busy city, so different in many re- 
spects from what Bobby and Fred had been ac- 
customed to in the North. They were especially 
interested in viewing the spot where, behind cot- 
ton bales, Andrew Jackson and his men had held 
off the flower of the British Army and won the 
most notable victory of the war of 1812. 

‘‘It was great, said Bobby, as he looked at 
his watch. “But hurry up, fellows. Well have 
to get a hustle on, or well miss the train. 

But Lee did not seem especially alarmed. 

“I guess well have time enough,’’ he said. 
“The train we’re going to take doesi^’t bother 
much about timetables. Still there’s no use in 
taking chances.” 

His conjecture was correct, for although they 
got to the station on time, it was some time after 
the scheduled hour when the wheezy old engine 
pulled out of the depot. And after it got started 
it rambled on in a careless, happy-go-lucky way, 
as though it did not care much when it got to its 
destination. 

It was a mixed freight and passenger train. 
There were perhaps a dozen freight cars, with 
one passenger coach attached to the end of the 
train. It ran along a single track, which was lit- 


114 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

tie more than “two streaks of rust and a right of 
way. ’ ’ 

Most of the stations at which the train stopped 
were small ones, but there were one or two of 
respectable size. When the train came to a halt 
nt these, there were usually several negro women 
who walked along the side of the passenger 
car, offering their wares to the travelers. Their 
chief stock in trade was fried chicken, and this 
smelled so good that the boys bought repeatedly, 
until Fred at last declared that he’d be ashamed 
after that to look a chicken in the face. 

“You want to save room, fellows,” re- 
monstrated Lee. ‘ ‘ My mother will have a corking 
good supper waiting for us, and she’ll want to 
see you put it away.” 

“She needn’t worry a bit about that, ” mumbled 
Fred, with his mouth full. “We may have our 
faults, but we never go back on grub. Just put 
us at the table and trust us to do the rest.” 

Both Bobby and Fred were impressed by the 
leisurely way in which life seemed to flow on in 
the various places through which they passed. 
Even the soft haze in the atmosphere was sug- 
gestive of rest and quiet. In the Httle towns, dogs 
lay in the dust in the middle of the road, not at 


115 


Under Sunny Skies 

all disturbed by the fear of being run over. Mer- 
chants in their shirt sleeves sat in front of their 
stores, with chairs tilted back, exchanging gossip 
with farmers, who had come in with their pro- 
duce and were in no hurry to get back. Even 
the people coming toward .the station to take the 
train sauntered along with no fear of being left. 
Some of them stopped to chat with the engineer, 
who leaned against the side of his cab, chewing 
a straw and showing in every movement that 
time was the last thing in the world that could 
bother him. Then after a while he would get up 
in his seat, and the train would begin to move, 
with much wheezing and creaking, as though dis- 
gruntled at being disturbed. 

‘‘Any mattresses on the train queried Fred, 
as he looked around him. “Looks as if we’d 
spend the night here, at the rate we’re going.” 

“Not quite so bad as that,” laughed Lee, 
“though I don’t wonder that you think so. But 
we’ve only two more stations now before we 
come to Eaneleigh. That’s the nearest station 
to the plantation.” 

“Do we have far to walk to get to your place?” 
asked Fred, as he viewed their collection of suit 
cases rather apprehensively. 


116 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Ob, we^re about six miles from the station,’^ 
rejoined Lee carelessly. 

“Six miles, ga-sped Fred. “ Scubbity-yow ! 
And on a hot day like this. I can see where I 
melt into a grease spot.^^ 

“Hold your horses,’^ said Lee. “You won^t 
have to walk a step. One of the men will be at 
the station with a buckboard and a pair of mules. 
Ever ridden in a buckboar-d!^’ 

“Yes,’’ replied Fred, “many a time out on the 
ranch. But I’ve never ridden behind mules. Do 
they step fasti” 

“Not that you could notice,” grinned Lee. 
“Their strong point is in standing fast. Once 
in a while we have to build a fire under one of 
them to get it to budge. You’ll know a good 
sight more about mules than you do now when 
you go back to school.” 

“School!” groaned Fred. “What’s the use 
of spoiling a perfectly good day by talking about 
school. Well have to go back soon enough.- 
Let’s forget it while we’re here.” 

In less than an hour they were approaching 
Raneleigh, and Bobby and Fred craned their 
necks in order to get a glimpse of the town. All 
they saw however as the train lumbered up to 


117 


Under Sunny Skies 

the platform was a general store, that stood op- 
posite the station, and three or four dwellings 
located irregularly along a dusty street. 

‘^As a matter of fact it isn’t a town at all, only 
a station,” explained Lee, as he led the way out 
on the platform. “Ah, there’s Jim!” he ex- 
claimed, as a rather decrepit old negro came hob- 
bling up to meet them. “How are you, JimT’ 

“Tol’able, jess tol’able, Marse Lee,” replied 
Jim. “Ah sho’ am glad to see you-all.” 

“These are my friends, Bobby Blake and Fred 
Martin,” said Lee, as he piled the bags in the 
back of the buckboard. “They’ve come down 
to stay awhile with me on the plantation.” 

The old man took off his tattered hat and made 
a sweeping bow. 

“I’se proud to meet de young gem’lum,” he 
said. “Missus tole me dey waz a cornin’. We 
sho’ will try ter give dem er mighty good time.” 


CHAPTER Xin 


FLYING HEELS 

The six dusty miles from the station to the 
plantation would have been tedious ordinarily, 
but the boys were too full of high spirits to let 
little things like dust and heat atfect them. The 
buckboard creaked and jounced along, and the 
mules seemed to have even more than their share 
of the general disinclination to hurry. The old 
negro gave the boys news of all that had been 
going on at the plantation since Lee’s last time 
home. 

‘‘Ah’m afraid dat Marse Jim Boolus am fixin’ 
to make you an’ you ma all de trouble dat he 
kin,” said the old darkey, shaking his head. 
‘‘Seems like he’s gettin’ meaner and more no- 
account every year dat passes over his haid.” 

“The old rascal!” exclaimed Lee, with flash- 
ing eyes. “I’ll make him sorry some day for all 
the trouble he’s caused my family.” 

“Here’s lots of odder folks feels de same way,” 
118 


119 


Flying Heels 

said Jim. ^^Ev’body in de parish hates him like 
pisen, but de more people hates him de mo ^ lie 
seems to like it.’’ 

On the boat Lee had said quite a little of this 
Jim Boolus to Bobby and Fred. He was a mean 
old skinflint, who had thriven on the misery of 
others, and by many a shady deal had brought 
ruin on honest people. While everybody knew 
him to be unscrupulous and dishonest, he was so 
cunning and crafty that he always managed to 
keep out of the grip of the law. At present he 
was trying to prove his ownership to a large part 
of Mrs. Cartier’s estate, and she was in serious 
danger of losing it. 

The boys were still discussing ways and means 
to frustrate the wily schemings of the crafty old 
land shark when the buckboard turned off the 
dusty road, pursued its leisurely way up a long 
graveled avenue shaded by stately trees, and drew 
up before a wide-flung old mansion flanked by 
wide verandas. Before it had stopped Lee 
jumped out and ran to meet a pleasant faced 
lady who was descending the steps. After their 
first affectionate greeting Lee introduced Bobby 
and Fred to her. 

These are my two friends. Mother, Bobby 


120 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

Blake and Fred Martin, be said. .guess 
youVe beard so much about them in my letters 
to you that you bardly need an introduction.’^ 

‘‘Indeed yes,” sbe smiled. “And I hope that 
Lee’s mother will be just as good friends with 
you as Lee is.” 

Mrs. Cartier was so gracious and hospitable 
that the boys were quickly at their ease and felt 
as though they had known her a long time. 

Lee showed them their room, a beautiful large 
one with big, comfortable looking beds and dark, 
cool curtains at the windows. 

“When you fellows have gotten some of the 
dust otf you, come on down and I’ll show you 
around,” said Lee, as he left them. 

“Well,” remarked Bobby, when he and Fred 
were alone, “it looks to me as though we had 
come to a pretty fine place to spend our vacation. 
Mrs. Cartier certainly has a way of making a 
fellow feel welcome. ’ ’ 

“She certainly has,” returned Fred, “I’ve 
often heard about Southern hospitality, and now 
I know what it’s like.” 

“I wish we could do something to fix that skin- 
flint old neighbor of theirs,” continued Fred, 
after a pause. 


Flying Heels 121 

‘‘Well, there no telling; maybe we can,^’ said 
Bobby. 

Shortly afterwards Bobby and Fred went down- 
stairs, and found Lee waiting for them on the 
veranda. 

“I thought you fellows must have been over- 
come by the excitement of that buckboard 
ride and dropped asleep,’^ grinned Lee. “You 
never used to take as long as that to get spruced 
up back at school, especially when you happened 
to get up late and thought you^d be late for 
breakfast.’^ 

“When in Rome do as the Romans do,^^ quoted 
Bobby. “When you hit a place where everybody 
seems to take things easy, why be in a hurry T’ 

“Hurray!^’ shouted Lee. “I can see that 
youVe got the making of a Southern gentleman 
in you, all right. ‘Never be in a hurry ^ is one of 
the first things you learn around here.’’ 

“That’s all right, sometimes,” put in Fred. 
“But when you’re toting a football down a field 
with the goal posts looking to be about ten miles 
away, and eleven fellows doing their best to grab 
you around the knees and sit on your chest, 
hurrying is the one thing you’re most anxious to 
do.” 


122 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘ ‘ Eight ! ’ ’ laughed Bobby. ‘ ^ Not to mention the 
way the coach feels about it.’’ 

‘‘Well, I’ll have to admit that a coach doesnH 
believe in taking things easy,” said Lee, “but 
then, I guess probably most coaches don’t come 
from the South.” 

The others agreed that this was very probable, 
and then set out on a tour of the plantation. 
This covered several hundred acres, and in the 
days “before the war” had evidently been a prof- 
itable estate. Besides the big, rambling old 
mansion, there were numerous barns and out- 
buildings, including what had formerly been 
quarters for numerous slaves. Most of these 
buildings were unused and out of repair now, and, 
except in the busy planting and picking seasons, 
there were only five old servants on the place. 
Aunt Dinah, the cook, deserved first place, because 
she was past master (or mistress) of the art of 
cookery, and could turn out dishes that had spread 
her fame for miles in a country of good cooks. 

Uncle Josh, a faithful old darkey, whose 
wrinkled face was framed in snow white hair, 
acted as “handy man” and did odd jobs where- 
ever they were needed, although forever complain- 
ing about a mysterious ailment that he invari- 


123 


Flying Heels 

ably referred to as ‘^de misery in mah back/’ 
There were three other more or less lazy but en- 
tirely good-natured darkeys, who did whatever 
else was necessary in a care-free but somewhat 
inefficient manner. 

‘‘They mean well enough, and they think the 
world of mother and me, but unless somebody’s 
watching them they’ll never hurt themselves with 
overwork,” explained Lee. “When I’m through 
school and college and can take charge of this 
place, I’m going to get more action or know the 
reason why.” 

He took Bobby and Fred through the big barn, 
where now only a few horses and mules were 
stabled, although there was room for a hundred. 
As they passed one stall, there was a flash of 
vicious hoofs, which narrowly missed Fred, who 
was the nearest. 

“Wow!” he exclaimed, as he jumped back, “I 
pretty near stopped something that time. That 
beast must have a grudge against me, I guess.” 

“Oh, it isn’t against you, in particular,” said 
Lee. “He’s got a grudge against the whole 
human race. That’s old Baldy, and I really 
believe he’s the meanest mule that ever lived, 
and if you know anything about mules, you’ll 


124 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

realize that thaPs saying something. I should 
have warned you about him, but I didn/t think 
about it. ’ ^ 

‘‘Oh, well it doesn’t matter as long as he missed 
me,” said Fred. “You can bet I’ll watch out for 
him in the future.” 

“It’s a circus to see the darkeys when they have 
to harness him,” said Lee. “They’re all afraid 
of him, and yet they respect him, too, because 
he ’s as strong as two ordinary mules, and when he 
feels like it can do a hard day’s work. I think 
they’re going to hitch him up in a little while, 
and if you like we’ll hang around and watch the 
fun.” 

You can be sure Bobby and Fred had no ob- 
jection to this, and sure enough, in a little while 
two husky colored men appeared and took down 
the necessary harness, from pegs on the wall.” 

“Are you going to hitch up old Baldyf ” asked 
Lee. 

“We aim to, Marse Lee,” said one,, whose 
first name was Mose, and whose last name nobody 
ever seemed to have heard. “But dat.mule doan 
always calculate to do jest whut we wants him to.” 

“ ’Deed he don’t,” agreed the other. “Las’ 
time Ah come near him, he done took de seat outen 


125 


Flying Heels 

my pants, an Ah shore thought Ah was headed 
straight for Kingdom Come ^fore Ah could get 
away from him/’ 

The negro who had spoken first approached the 
stall cautiously, but the mule heard him coming, 
and, with ears laid viciously back, lashed out 
at him with flying heels. But the negro was on 
his guard, and jumped to one side barely in time 
to save himself. 

‘‘Beckon ole Baldy ain’t feelin’ friendly to- 
ward me to-day nohow, ’ ’ said Mose, with a some- 
what nervous grin. “Beckon Ah’d better untie 
him from de stall nex’ door.” 

He went cautiously into the stall adjoining that 
of old Baldy, and reached over gingerly to untie 
his halter. But the mule was not to be caught 
napping, and he made a wicked nip at the negro’s 
hand. He just missed the hand, but caught the 
ragged coat sleeve in his white teeth, and tore a. 
long strip from it. 

“Mah goodness!” exclaimed the negro, “Ah’d 
ruther monkey wid a load o’ dynamite dan wid 
dat mule.” 

“Try it again, an’ I’ll take his mind offen you,” 
said the other negro. 

He picked up a long rake from a comer, and 


126 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

with this began prodding at the rear end of the 
mnle, while his companion again cautiously ap- 
proached the halter. This ruse was successful, 
for the animal was so occupied with trying to 
kick the rake handle into bits, that he hardly 
noticed anything else, and Mose had no trouble 
this time in untying the halter. 

‘‘Watch out dare, niggah!’’ he admonished his 
assistant. “Everybody git out of de way an’ let 
this critter sail. ’ ’ 

The boys scattered to places of safety, as the 
mule, finding his head free, backed out of the 
stall and made for the open door. There was 
a fenced-in yard surrounding the stable, and he 
galloped around this, kicking up his heels and 
hee-hawing. The two negroes dashed pellmell 
after him, followed by the laughing boys. 

“Now the real fun. will begin, ’ ’ said Lee. * ‘ Just 
watch them try to harness him up.” 


CHAPTER XIV 


BALDY GIVES IN' 

The two darkeys had their blood up now, and 
were resolved to get that mule harnessed or die 
in the attempt. Mose had the big padded collar, 
and his companion had the bridle. They crept 
up warily toward old Baldy, who, with the wisdom 
born of many such encounters, refused to be cor- 
nered, dashing out with surprising speed every 
time things began to look bad for him. But at 
last the negroes maneuvered him into a comer 
from which there was no escape, and then, with a 
sudden rush, threw -themselves at him. Mose 
caught him round the neck, while the other leaped 
to his back and clung there with hands and knees. 
They were wise in the ways of mules, also, and 
enjoyed a tussle like this, although their enjoy- 
ment was -tempered by a wholesome respect for 
the kicking and biting ability of the animal. 

But before they could get the collar over his 
127 


128 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

head, Baldy rushed across the yard kicking and 
rearing, dragging the two negroes after him as 
though their weight amounted to nothing at all. 
The negroes held on gamely, though, and at last 
the mule, despairing of shaking them off, suddenly 
threw himself down and rolled completely over. 
The darkeys however had anticipated some such 
action, and let go just in the nick of time to save 
themselves. 

^‘That was a narrow escape,’’ said Bobby, some- 
what anxiously. ‘‘Aren’t you afraid they’ll get 
hurt, Lee?” 

“I don’t think so,” he answered. “It takes a 
lot to hurt them, and they’ve done this many 
times before. Just leave it to them.” 

The mule struggled to his feet with his torment- 
ors clinging to him. Suddenly he gave a light- 
ning-like whirl that shook Mose loose in spite of 
all he could do, and before he could recover him- 
self Baldy had lashed out and caught the darkey 
fair and square. Fortunately for Mose, he still 
had hold of the big padded collar, and the mule’s 
hoofs landed on this with a smart whack. Mose 
was propelled along several feet, and then, losing 
his balance, rolled over and over in the dust. 

The three boys thought he was badly hurt, and 


129 


Baldy Gives In 

rushed out to his rescue, but before they had 
gone ten feet the negro had bounded to his feet, 
just in time to avoid the mule, who was rushing 
toward him with mouth wide open and wicked 
teeth gleaming. Temporarily the fight had 
been knocked out of Mose, and he fled igno- 
miniously for the fence, with old Baldy in hot pur- 
suit. With the other negro clinging desperately 
around his neck, it was a ludicrous spectacle, and 
as Moso cleared the fence in a wild scramble with 
the mule not ten feet behind him, the boys shouted 
with laughter. 

‘‘That was a close shave!” gasped Fred at 
last. “Old Baldy is out after dark meat to-day, 
I can see that.” 

“Looks to me as though the mule had won the 
decision,” said Bobby. “How about it, Lee?” 

‘ ‘ Oh, they can ’t give up now, ’ ^ said Lee. ‘ ‘ That 
mule would never be worth a cent to us again if 
they let him win. But I’m going to see if a little 
strategy won’t help them out.” 

“You two wait a minute,” he called to the 
negroes, who were by now both on the safe side 
of the fence, mopping at their streaming faces, 
and started on a run for the bam. He soon 
emerged, carrying a heaped measure with oats. 


130 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

Baldy was at the other end of the yard, watching 
proceedings with deep suspicion. Lee emptied 
the oats on the ground within two feet of the 
fence, and then rejoined his friends. 

‘‘You two wait until he starts to eat the oats, 
and then jump on him,^^ he shouted to the negroes. 

“Yessah,’^ responded Mose, with a grin. 
“ ’Clare to goodness, Ah’d clean forgot dat you 
can ketch more flies wid honey dan yuh can wid 
vinegar.” 

When Baldy saw the tempting heap of oats, 
it occurred to him that a little something to eat 
wouldn’t be so bad, and he sidled over to them 
and began eating. The darkeys secured the har- 
ness that they had been forced to drop, and crept 
cautiously up on the mule, who was now thinking 
only of how delicious oats could taste to a hungry 
mule. Mose mounted the fence just back of 
old Baldy, while his companion crept close to the 
mule’s other side. Suddenly Mose leaped 
squarely on his back. With a frightened snort 
the mule jerked his head up, and at that second 
Mose slipped the heavy collar over his neck. At 
.the same moment the other negro slipped the 
bridle over his head, forced the bit into his mouth, 
and before he could flick his tail old Baldy found 



At the same moment the other negro slipped 
the bridle over his head. 



131 


Baldy Gives In 

himself arrayed in harness. The suddenness of 
the attack seemed to take all the spirit out of the 
mule, and when he found himself actually har- 
nessed he submitted with only a few feeble kicks 
and bucks as protest against the trick that had 
been played on him. He was soon hitched to the 
wagon, and it rattled out of the yard with the two 
colored men on the seat laughing and throwing 
insults at the subdued Baldy. 

‘‘That was some inspiration you had, Lee,^’ 
said Bobby. ‘ ‘ I thought at one time you ^d have to 
call in the police if you wanted to get him har- 
nessed. ’ ’ 

“Oh, that’s an old trick,” said the Southern lad. 
“I’ve seen those same darkeys do the same thing, 
but I guess this time they were so rattled they 
didn’t think of it.” 

“Well, I’m glad they didn’t do that at the begin- 
ning,” said Fred. “We’d have missed a lot of 
fun if they had. I don’t think I’ll ever forget 
how funny Mose looked streaking for the fence 
with that mule snapping his teeth right behind 
him.” 

“Yes, old Mose was a scared darkey, all right,” 
laughed Lee. “But now, I don’t know about you 
fellows, but I for one am beginning to feel as 


132 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

though I could appreciate some of Aunt Dinah’s 
cooking.” 

‘‘Well, suppose you lead us to it and let us 
show you how we feel about it,” said Bobby. 
“As they often remind us in school, it’s deeds that 
count, not words.” 

“All right, then, just follow me and I’ll give 
you a chance to demonstrate,” said Lee. 

“Lead on,” said Fred, “an I remember that 
we’re with you to the last doughnut.” 

“Oh, I know I can count on you,” returned 
Lee, as he and his friends headed for the house. 
“But I know you can’t eat too much to suit Aunt 
Dinah. The more you pack away, the more she 
thinks you like her cooking. She is sure an artist 
when it comes to performing on a cook stove. ’ ’ 

Arrived at the house, the boys found that Lee’s 
praise of Aunt Dinah’s abilities had been well 
founded. Creamy, luscious biscuits, tender, 
juicy fried chicken, with various tempting side 
dishes, were topped off by an apple pie that Fred 
later referred to as “a dream,” and when they 
finally adjourned to the spacious veranda they 
felt at peace with all the world. 

“Why, I feel so good I think I could even for- 


Baldy Gives In 133 

give Ap Plunkit for soaking me with a baseball, 
the way he did last season,’’ said Fred. 

^‘Well, Lee, if you ever had a grudge against 
Fred, now’s the time to hit him,” said Bobby. 
‘‘He wouldn’t even try to hit you back. He’d 
just shake hands with you and forgive you. ’ ’ 

“I’d advise to try it,” said Lee, scorn- 
fully. “I know it always takes an awful lot to 
make Fred mad, but still, I’m not going to chance 
it.” 

Mrs. Cartier, who was an interested listener, 
laughed. “That’s all that boys seem to think of 
— eating and fighting,” she said. “Sometimes I 
wonder how they ever get time to study.” 

“Well,” said Bobby, “at school, especially, 
there always seems to be some one who’ll bully 
everybody else, if he gets the chance, and so once 
in a while we just have to show him that he 
can’t.” 

“I suppose so,” she said. “The world always 
seems to have plenty of trouble makers.” 


CHAPTER XV 


THE LA.ND SHARK 

^^Like Jim Boolus, for instance,’^ said Lee, his 
face clouding over. ‘‘What is he up to now, 
Mother? Has he been trying to make trouble 
again? 

“He’s always trying to do that,” responded 
Mrs. Cartier, “and the worst of it is, he so often 
succeeds.” 

“Lee was telling us something about him,” 
said Bobby, “but I’m afraid Fred and I don’t 
understand it very well, anyway.” 

“Well,” said Mrs. Cartier, “our family has 
owned this plantation, over a hundred years, and 
until recently there was no question of our own- 
ership. But now, this Jim Boolus has laid claim 
to all the southern half of our land, and while we 
and all our neighbors are morally certain that 
his claim is dishonest, we find it a difficult thing 
to prove according to law.” 

“You see,” explained Lee, “when my great- 
134 


The Land Shark 


135 


grandfather bought this land it was wild country, 
nothing but woods and swamps. He had it sur- 
veyed at that time, and the four corners were 
marked off by four large stones. When he bought 
the land, the southern end included a small part 
of the big swamp, or Shadow Swamp, as it is 
known in this neighborhood. The first Cartier, 
by means of hard work and at great expense, 
managed to drain the part of the swamp included 
in his land, and it was on this reclaimed land that 
the boundary stones were set up. For many 
years this was one of the most fertile parts of the 
plantation, but then came the war, and while that 
was going on the swamp crept up on the drained 
land and swallowed it up, and with it the bound- 
ary stones that would, I believe, prove our own- 
ership.’’ 

‘‘But couldn’t the swamp be drained again?” 
asked Bobby. “If it were, maybe the stones 
could be located again.” 

“No,” said Lee, shaking his head doubtfully, 
“the chances are the stones would have sunk be- 
low the surface of the ground by now, and any- 
way, it would coi&t so much to drain it now that 
it would be out of the question for us.” 

“Is it such a big swamp, Lee?” inquired Fred. 


136 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Oh, yes, it covers a good many miles. For 
the most part, nobody can get through it at all, 
but there are one or two secret paths through it, 
and IVe been told that there are small bits of 
dry ground, too, if you know where to find them. 
Some of the negroes around here know their way 
through, and before the war runaway slaves used 
to hide there sometimes. But any one who didn ^t 
know the place would probably get lost and swal- 
lowed up before he’d fairly got into it.” 
r ‘‘Sounds inviting, all right,” said Fred. 
*‘The more I hear about it, the more I think it 
would be a good adventure to explore it. ’ ’ 

“You wouldn’t say that if you were as famil- 
iar with the place as we people around here are, ’ ’ 
said Mrs. Cartier, shaking her head. “Two sons 
of a neighbor of ours were lost in it two or three 
years ago, not to mention many others.” 

Fred said no more at that time, but Bobby, 
who was nearest him thought he heard him mutter 
something about “better luck next time.” 

“But you were telling us something about a 
river that ran near the plantation, weren’t youP’ 
asked Bobby. “Whereabouts does that lie?” 

“Well, it’s that river that really makes the 
swamp, in a way,” explained Lee. “The 


The Land Shark 


137 


•country is rather low hereabouts, anyway, and 
when the river hits the swamp it spreads out. 
You can follow its course right through, though, 
and come out on the other side, if you don’t hap- 
pen to get pocketed in some blind bayou or la- 
goon.” 

‘‘Well, perhaps we could do some exploring 
by water, anyway,” suggested Fred, hopefully. 

“That is possible,” said Mrs. Cartier. “We 
have a small motor boat, and any time you boys 
care to use it you may have it.” 

“That will be fine!” exclaimed Bobby and 
Fred. 

“We can go to-morrow afternoon, if you want,” 
said Lee. “I want to drive to the village in the 
morning to get some things for mother, but if we 
start early, we can get back in time to get the 
boat and go for a short trip, anyway.” 

Both Bobby and Fred were enthusiastic at the 
prospect, and for the rest of the evening little 
else was talked of except plans for the coming 
outing. 

It was arranged that Bobby should accompany 
Lee on his trip to the village, while Fred was to 
stay at home and look over the motor boat to 
make sure that everything was in readiness to 


138 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

start when his two friends got back. After making 
these arrangements, the boys said good-night to 
Mrs. Cartier, and went to their rooms. They 
were all three excited at the prospect of fun and 
adventure the next day. 


CHAPTER XVI 


JIM BOOLUS APPEAES 

The three boys slept the deep and dreamless 
sleep of healthy boyhood, and only woke when the 
sun was streaming in at their windows. 

‘‘What do yon know about thatT’ said Fred, 
as he leaped out of bed and started dressing in a 
wild attempt to overcome lost time. “We were 
going to get an early start, and here it is nearly 
eight o’clock and we’re just getting up.” 

“Well, Lee said they never had breakfast be- 
fore eight or half past,” said Bobby, “so prob- 
ably if we hurry we’ll be all right anyway. 
There’s no use our rushing ourselves when no- 
body else does.” 

“Yes, but that motor boat may need some fix- 
ing,” said Fred. “Motor boats almost always 
do, as far as I can see.” 

“Mrs. Cartier said that this boat was in per- 
fect order,” Bobby reminded him. 

“There never was a motor boat that was in 


139 


140 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

perfect order,” retorted Fred. ‘‘At least, that’s 
what I heard my uncle tell my father, and he’s 
had so many of them he ought to know by this 
time. ’ ’ 

“You don’t seem very hopeful about it,” said 
Bobby, laughing. “But here I am dressed be- 
fore you, even though you started first. That 
proves that it doesn’t pay to get excited.” 

“Well, I never did anything yet that did pay,” 
declared Fred. “The only kind of things I seem 
to know how to do are the things that cost money. ” 

“Aw, come on and have breakfast,” said 
Bobby, “maybe you’ll feel better then.” 

“Well, I’m willing to find out, anyway,” 
grinned Fred, and the two sallied forth in the 
‘direction of the breakfast room. At the head of 
the stairs they almost bumped into Lee as he 
came tearing around a corner. 

“Confound it!” exclaimed the Southern lad, 
“I’ve pretty near killed myself hurrying, think- 
ing that you fellows would be all through break- 
fast, by this time, and here you are just going 
dowji.” 

“Yes,” said Bobby, slyly, “if we stay here 
much longer, we’ll be just as lazy as the other 
people in this part of the world.” 


Jim Boolus Appears 141 

“I don^t see how either one of you could get 
any lazier than you always have been,” laughed 
Lee. 

not too lazy to heal you downstairs, any- 
way,” said Bobby, and as Lee instantly accepted 
the challenge by starting downstairs three steps 
at a time, they made a tremendous racket which 
brought Mrs. Cartier to the door of the break- 
fast room in alarm. 

‘‘Good gracious!” she exclaimed, as the boys 
jumped the last six steps together and landed in 
a heap at the bottom. ‘ ‘ Did you fall Is any one 
hurt?” 

“I guess nobody’s hurt,” gasped Lee, as the 
laughing boys picked themselves up. “We were 
just trying to see who could get down first. You 
saw the finish. Mother — tell us who won. Well 
leave it to you.” 

“I should say it was a tie,” she laughed, greatly 
relieved. “It looked to me as though you all 
landed in a heap at the same time. Bobby seemed 
to be on top, so probably he won.” 

“Well, well let it go at that,” grinned her son. 
“I wonder what Aunt Dinah has fixed us up for 
breakfast.” 

“Perhaps you’d better go in and see,” an- 


142 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

swered his mother, and the boys were not slow 
in following her advice. The old Southern 
mammy had provided in her usual bounteous 
manner, but the boys were in too much of a hurry 
to properly appreciate all the good things spread 
out before them. Even Lee hurried, with the re- 
sult that in a very short time they found them- 
'selves out at the bam, where Mose had a horse 
already harnessed. 

‘‘We’ll make the best time we can, and get 
back early,” promised Lee, as he and Bobby 
climbed into* the buggy. 

“All right, I’ll be waiting for you,” responded 
Fred, and his two friends dashed out of the yard, 
upsetting the dignity of numerous hens, who 
flapped wildly to right and left, squawking their 
protests. 

“Now, if you’ll show me the motor boat, Mose,” 
said Fred. “I’ll look it over and make sure 
everything is all right.” 

“Yassuh,” said the darkey, “it’s a goodish 
piece from here, but Ah reckons us kin walk it 
in fifteen minutes.” 

“Guess I can stand it if you can,” said Fred, 
and they started out. 

Meantime, Lee and Bobby had reached the 


143 


Jim Boolus Appears 

dusty highroad and were going along at a spank- 
ing pace. Their horse had been in pasture sev- 
eral days with nothing to do, and seemed to en- 
joy a good run with nothing but the light buggy 
behind him. 

‘‘If we can keep this up, it wonT take us long,’’ 
observed Bobby. 

“Yes, but we can ’t, ’ ’ said Lee. ‘ ‘ There is some 
pretty sandy going before we hit town, and that 
will slow old Jerry down.” 

They soon reached a bad stretch of sandy road, 
which was so narrow that thero was no more than 
room enough for one carriage. When two met, 
each had to pull partly off the road in order to 
pass, and this happened once or twice, the drivers 
of the other outfits recognizing Lee and greeting 
him pleasantly. 

After passing the last rig, they had gone per- 
haps half a mile, old Jerry stopping at frequent 
intervals to rest, when they saw another buggy 
approaching them. As it drew nearer, Lee gave 
an exclamation. 

‘ ‘ What ’s the matter ? ’ ’ inquired Bobby. ‘ ‘ Any- 
thing wrong?” 

Lee’s face was flushed as he pointed to the on- 
coming buggy. 


144J Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘There comes the meanest man in the world, 
he exclaimed, his voice shaking. “That^s Jim 
Boolns, the fellow that’s trying to steal our 
land.” 

The buggies were quite close together by this 
time, and the man in the other one evidently 
overheard Lee ’s last words. He was a lean, dys- 
peptic looking old fellow, and the look of hatred 
and rage that his face now wore did little to im- 
prove his appearance. 

“You’d better be keerful, young feller,” he 
snarled, as the buggies came close, ‘ ‘ there ’s a law 
in the land for them as u^es hard words.” 

“Yes, and there’s a law for people who try to 
steal what doesn’t belong to them, too,” retorted 
Lee. “Pull out there and let us pass^ please.” 


CHAPTEE XVn 


THE RUNAWAY HORSE 

‘^PuLL out yourselves, consarn ye!^^ shouted 
Jim Boolus, his face purple with rage. Then, 
seeing that Lee made no move, he suddenly 
snatched his whip from its socket, and made a 
savage cut at Lee^s horse. 

Old Jerry reared and would have bolted for- 
ward, had not Lee held him quiet with all the 
strength he possessed. Bobby was infuriated by 
Boolus’ cruel action, and in a second he was out 
of the buggy and was leading the old miser’s 
horse olf the road. With a yelp of rage Boolus 
made a cut at him with his whip, but Bobby 
dodged just in time, and the stinging lash landed 
on Boolus’ horse instead. The unfortunate ani- 
mal, already greatly excited by the altercation, 
gave a leap to one side, cramping the front 
wheels against the buggy. The light rig ca- 
reened over, and then, as the horse started for- 
ward at top speed, it turned over completely, roll- 
145 


146 Bobby Blake on -a Plantation 

ing Boolus out into the deep sand at the road- 
side. The frightened horse dragged the over- 
turned buggy a short distance, but then his har- 
ness broke, and he streaked down the road in a 
cloud of dust and sand, leaving the wrecked buggy 
lying on its side. 

Jim Boolus staggered to his feet and gazed af- 
ter his fast disappearing horse for an instant, 
then turned toward the boys. For a moment they 
were bewildered at the sudden development of 
events, but when they saw that Boolus was un- 
hurt the comic side of it struck them both at the 
same time, and they shouted with laughter. But 
their discomfitted enemy failed to see any humor 
in the situation. 

‘‘Ill sue ye for this, see if I donl!’’ he yelled, 
dancing about in his rage. “You 11 pay for that 
buggy, or 1 11 know the reason why. ^ ^ 

‘ ‘ I don T see where I come in, ’ ^ said Lee. “You 
hit your own horse and he ran away. Both of us 
saw you do it, and we could swear to it in court. 
You donl suppose any one around here would 
believe you if you tried to tell them anything else, 
do youT’ 

Boolus glared at the boys, but the truth of what 


The Eunaway Horse 147 

Lee said was so evident that he could think of no 
suitable retort. 

‘‘And now/^ continued Lee, “I and my friend 
here wish you a very pleasant walk to wherever 
it is you were going,’’ and with these words he 
spoke to Jerry, who started off. As they looked 
back the boys could see the old skinflint still stand- 
ing in the road shaking his fists at them, until a 
sudden turn hid him from view. 

“Well, that’s one time Mr. Jim Boolus got the 
worst of it,” said .Bobby, wiping the tears of 
mirth from his eyes. “The look on his face as he 
picked himself out of that sand heap was worth 
going a long way to see.” 

“It surely was,” agreed Lee, “but I’m rather 
sorry it happened just the same. He’ll hate us 
worse than ever now, and he won’t stop at any- 
thing to get even.” 

“Well, don’t worry about it,” advised Bobby. 
“Anyway, he got the worst of it this time, so 
maybe he will again. 

“Well, I Jbiope so,” said Lee. “He always 
does the meanest thing he can think of, anyway, 
so probably this won’t make much difference.” 

They reached the village without further ad- 


148 Babby Blake on a Plantation 

venture. Lee carried out the commission, bis 
mother had given him, and they started back im- 
mediately. 

‘‘We’re late as it is, on account of that ruction 
with Boolus,” said Lee. “Fred will think we’ve 
gotten lost, sure.” 

“I guess when we tell him what delayed us he 
won’t mind very much,” said Bobby, with a 
twinkle in his eye. “He’ll never get over being 
sorry that he wasn’t with us when it happened.” 

They passed the wrecked buggy lying in the 
same position, but there was no sign of its owner, 
and the boys concluded that some one had prob- 
ably come along and given him a lift. When they 
reached the plantation, they found Fred waiting 
for them at the gate. 

“I thought you would be here an hour ago,” 
he exclaimed impatiently. “What’s been keep- 
ing you?” 

“Jump in, and we’ll tell you while we’re going 
up to the house,” said Lee, and then he and 
Bobby told him all about their encounter with 
Boolus. As Bobby had predicted, Fred was 
greatly disappointed at having missed the adven- 
ture. 

“But I’ll have to admit you made good use of 


149 


The Eunaway Horse 

that extra hour/’ he conceded. was getting 
mad as a hornet when you didn’t show up on time, 
because I’ve got the motor boat all provisioned 
and ready to start. And it’s a peach of a boat, 
too,” he added. 

^‘Well, that’s the kind we want,” said Bobby. 
‘H’m all ready to start at a moment’s notice.” 

‘‘We’ll have to go to the house first,” said Lee, 
“but that won’t take us long.”' 

To save time, Lee told Mose to go to the boat 
landing and wait for them there, so that he could 
take the horse and buggy back when they got 
there. 

“We Southerners just hate to walk when we 
can ride,” he explained. “Besides, it will save 
timfe.” 

Mrs. Cartier insisted that they have lunch, al- 
though if left to themselves the boys would have 
preferred to start their trip and eat in the boat. 
They told her about the encounter with Jim 
Boolus, and when they saw how anxious she be- 
came they felt sorry for the first time that it had 
happened. However, there was nothing to be 
done about it, and after a hasty meal they said 
good-by to her, jumped into the buggy, and in a 
short time were at the tiny boathouse. 


150 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

This was situated in a small creek or inlet, and 
was built right over the water, so that one had 
only to open the doors and guide the boat out. 
The boat itself was a staunch little twenty-foot 
craft with a dependable two-cylinder motor to 
drive it, and Fred had seen to it that Mose should 
have the brass work shining. The negro had 
been far from enthusiastic over this job. 

“Whut’s de use to scrub up all dat brass,’’ he 
had argued, “when it won’t be no time at all be- 
fore de mist from de ribber has it green ag’in. 
Seems t’me it would be more sensible like to 
spend de time restin’ out in de nice warm sun.” 

“You might as well say it’s no use eating be- 
cause you’ll only get hungry again,” Fred had 
told him. “ I ’ll bet you don ’t believe that though, 
do you?” 

“Nossuh,” said Mose, with a broad grin, “dat’s 
a diff’rent breed o’ cats, suh.” 

Apparently convinced by Fred’s argument, he 
had fallen to with a will, with such good results 
that the motor boat now looked spick and span 
enough to go in some water festival. 

“It sho looks nifty,” admitted Mose, “but mah 
elbow aches yet when Ah reflects how hard Ah 
had to dig befo’ Ah got it dat way.” 


151 


The Eunaway Horse 

Never mind/’ said Lee, as he gave the fly- 
wheel a twist that set the motor to chugging in 
a business-like manner. ‘^When we come back 
well bring you some swamp chickens for sup- 
per, Mose.” 

‘‘Whut’s dem swamp chickumsl” inquired the 
negro. ‘^Oain’t seem to reelect no sech fowl no- 
how.” 

‘‘Oh, certainly,” said Lee, with every appear- 
ance of conviction. ‘ ‘ They have black combs, red 
tail feathers, and blue eyes. You must have seen 
one, haven’t you?” 

“No^suh, an’ whut’s more. Ah don’ believe dey 
never was no sech a kind of a chickum,” said 
Mose. 

“All right, then, just you wait till we bring you 
one back,” said Lee, and guided the boat out into 
the sluggish river, leaving Mose scratching his 
woolly head on the bank. 

The river was perhaps a hundred feet wide at 
this point, and flowed so slowly that it was hard to 
believe that there was any current at all. The 
banks were covered with trees that grew right 
down to the water’s edge at this point, but as the 
little craft chugged its way upstream, the trees 
gave way to high, rank grass, with here and there 


152 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

a lofty cypress tree shooting up out of the rank 
vegetation. 

‘‘We’re on the edge of the swamp country 
now,” explained Lee. “In another hour well be 
right in the heart of it.” 


CHAPTER XVIII 


A scoundkel’s trick 

^‘What’s the chance of catching some fishF’ in- 
quired Bobby. “There’s nothing better than 
fresh caught fish grilled over a wood fire. ’ ’ 

“There are plenty of fish if you have the luck 
to catch them,” said Lee. They generally eat 
the bait off my hook, and then go away laughing 
at me.” 

“Huh, I never saw a fish laugh, myself,” said 
Fred; “it must be very interesting.” 

“Oh, it is,” Lee gravely assured him. “We’ll 
just land at a good place I know of, and maybe 
you can have a demonstration.” 

They chugged on a little further, and then Lee 
gave the wheel a twist and headed for a high 
green bank that rose above the general level of 
the flat swamp country. When about two hundred 
feet away he shut off the motor, and the boat 
glided gently on with its momentum and grounded 
easily on the muddy bank. 

15S 


154 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘ ‘ Here we are, ’ ’ said the Southern youth. ‘ ^ Get 
out your fishing lines, and well see what we can 
do.’’ 

It did not take the boys long to rig up their 
tackle, and then Lee jumped ashore, followed 
by Bobby and Fred. Together they pulled the 
bow of the boat up onto the bank, and then cast 
their bait. 

‘‘Now to hear the laughing fish,” said Fred. 
“Do they laugh very loud, Lee?” 

“Not as loud as some poor filsh that I know of,” 
retorted Lee-. 

“Wow!” exclaimed Bobby, laughing. “That 
had all the earmarks of a dig, Lee.” 

Fred opened his mouth to make a cutting re- 
mark, but at that moment his reel whizzed, and 
for the next five minutes he was too busy to say 
a word. The fish fought gamely, and the frail 
rod at times bent almost double and threatened 
to snap. But at last Fred landed the gleaming 
fish on the grass. 

“Good work!” applauded Lee. “After that I 
take back my unkind words, Fred. ’ ’ 

“That’s all right,” said Fred, “nothing could 
make me mad now. Isn’t that fish a beauty? 
I’ll bet he weighs all of three pounds.” 


A Scoundrel’s Trick 


155 


‘‘Wouldn’t be surprised,” assented Bobby. 
“Two or three more like that, and we can have a 
feast.” 

But the required number failed to materialize, 
and after half an hour of patient angling, the boys 
decided to try their luck in a new location. Ac- 
cordingly they moved some two or three hundred 
yards further upstream, and cast again. Here the 
fish were biting better, and in a little while even 
Lee had caught a fair sized fish, while Bobby and 
Fred each had two to their credit. Content with 
this haul, they decided to go back to the boat and 
continue their journey. They strung the fish on 
a bit of line, and then made their way back to 
where they had left the craft. 

But the motor boat boat was nowhere to be 
seen! 

For a moment all three were too surprised to 
speak. Bobby was the first to break the dazed 
silence. 

“It looks as though we were up against it, fel- 
lows,” he said, soberly. “How do you suppose 
that boat got away, anyway?” 

“It must be we didn’t pull it up far enough,” 
said Lee, “although I didn’t think the current 
was strong enough here to float a chip away. 


156 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

But now it looks as though I made a bad mistake. ’’ 

‘‘I don’t think there is any mistake about 
this,” said Bobby, who had been doing some quick 
thinking. “That boat would never have floated 
away unless •somebody had helped it to. We had 
it drawn up too far for that.” 

“But who in the world would there be here to 
set it adrift?” inquired Lee, in bewilderment. 

As though in answer to his question, there was a 
sudden stir and rustle in a tall bunch of swamp 
grass in back of them, and as they whirled about 
they saw a young negro boy leap from the grass 
and start running as fast as his legs could carry 
him. 

“After him, fellows!” yelled Bobby, and the 
three comrades took after the negro at top speed. 
The latter was fleet, but he was no match for 
Bobby who soon outdistanced his companions and 
was close on the negro’s heels. The darkey, hear- 
ing the pursuit so close to him, suddenly turned, 
and Bobby thought for a second that he was going 
to show fight, but instead he fell on his knees 
and started to beg for mercy. 

“D — don’t hit me, white boy,” he stammered. 
“Ah was made to do it, ’deed Ah was.” 


A Scoundrel’s Triek 157 

“Do what!’’ asked Bobby. “I haven accused 
you of doing anything yet. ^ ^ 

“Nossuh, you hasn.% and Ah wouldn’t have 
shoved off dat boat, neider, if mah boss hadn’t 
done tole me he’d skin me alive if Ah didn’t.” 

“I know this coon,” said Lee, who with Fred 
came up panting at this juncture. “He works 
for Jim Boolus, and I reckon that explains how 
our boat came to get adrift. How did you know 
we were here?” he continued, addressing the 
negro. 

“Ah was rowin’ Marse Boolus down de ribber,” 
answered the darkey, “an’ fust thing Ah knows he 
spies you-alPs boat wid its nose stuck up on de 
mud bank. ^Dat’s de Cartiers’ motor boat,’ he 
says to me, gettin’ all excited. “Suppose young 
Cartier and dose fresh friends o’ his’n must be 
aroun’ somewhere!” 

“ ^Yessuh,’ Ah says, and keeps right on rowin’. 
But we hadn’t gone no distance ’tall when he 
tells me to quit. 

“ ‘Gimme dem oars, you fool nigger,’ he says, 
‘Ah ’ll row dis boat in, and Ah wants you should 
step ashore an’ heave dat boat off de bank.’ 

“Ah jes’ had to do like he says, ’cause Marse 


158 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

Boolus is a powerful mean man when he ^ts riled. 
But Ah hadn’t any more dan got ashore when he 
hears one of you white boys shoutin’ somethin’, 
an’ he thinks you’re cornin’ back for your boat. 
Wid dat he starts pullin’ away like mad, leavin’ 
me up on de bank. Ah shoved off de boat, any- 
way, thinkin’ dat he’d come back an’ pick me up, 
but he jes’ kep’ right on goin’, and here I is.” 

‘^We ought to pitch you into the river and let 
you swim, after him,” said Lee, angrily. 

The frightened negro rolled his eyes. ‘^Ah’s 
sorry, boss,” he whimpered,” but Marse Boolus 
would jest as soon land me wid an oar as not if 
Ah didn’t do what he tole me to. ” 

‘‘It’s no use bothering with him,” said Bobby. 
“The damage is done now, and we’ll have to try 
to get out of this mess some way. ’ ’ 

“I suppose Boolus is chuckling now to think 
how he’s got even with us,” said Fred, clenching 
his fists. “I wish now he’d fallen out of that 
buggy onto some nice hard rocks instead of into 
soft sand.” 

“Well we’re in a pretty pickle, anyway,” said 
Lee, as the full extent of the calamity began to 
dawn on him. “We’re somewhere about the 
middle of the swamp, without any way to get out 


A ScoundrePs Trick 159 

unless we swim, and no provisions except a few 
fish.’’ 

‘‘Oh, it may not be quite as bad as that,” said 
Bobby. “How do you know there’s no way out 
except by the river? There’s probably some path 
through, if we can only find it.” 

“Yes, but that’s a big if,” said Lee. “But I 
guess we might as well go back and get those fish 
and cook them. We’ll have to camp out to-night, 
anyway, and then see what we can do in the morn- 
ing.” 

As nobody could suggest anything better than 
this, they made their way back to the river, taking 
the negro with them. ‘ ‘ There ’s no knowing what 
he’ll be up to,” said Lee. “We’d better keep an 
eye on him.” 

They cleaned and cooked the fish, and ate them 
in silence, each one busy with his own thoughts. 
The flat and dreary swamp spread out on all sides 
of their camp, except that bounded by the river. 
As evening came on, a cold white mist arose from 
the morass, causing them to shiver and throw more 
wood on their fire. Fortunately there was a 
plentiful supply of driftwood along the shore, 
and they resolved to keep the fire going all 
night, each one taking a turn at standing watch 


160 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

and putting fresh fuel on. As twilight deep- 
ened into night, strange noises arose on every 
side; the croaking of frogs, the weird calling of 
water fowl, and above all the fierce hum of mos- 
quitoes that came in clouds to add to the dis- 
comfort of their situation. 

‘^Where’s that darkey?’’ exclaimed Lee sud- 
denly. 

They had momentarily forgotten him, and 
now, when they looked around, there was no 
sign of him. He had disappeared into the sur- 
rounding blackness, and the boys knew that it 
would be hopeless to look for him. 

^Ht’s just as well, anyway,” said Fred. ‘^He 
had a treacherous look in his eyes, and I feel 
better now that he’s not around.” 

‘‘Yes, but the chances are he knew of a way out 
of this place,” said Lee, “and we might have 
made him show it to us. But he’s gone, and 
there’s no use worrying about it, I suppose.” 

“Well, if he can get out, we can, too,” said 
Bobby, hopefully. “We’ll get a start as soon as 
it’s light enough to see, and maybe we’ll be home 
in time for lunch.” 


CHAPTER XIX 


IN DESPERATE PERIL 

Bobby stood the first watch, Fred the second, 
and Lee the last. Nothing of any importance 
occurred during the night, although the swamp 
all around them seemed teeming with life. 
Above the croaking of frogs and the hum of 
night insects there rose at times a strange bel- 
lowing noise, that sent shivers creeping over 
Bobby and Fred, and which they were at a loss 
to explain. But next morning Lee told them 
the source of the strange noise. 

‘^What you heard were alligators,’^ said Lee. 

There are lots of them in this swamp, and 
we’ve got to look out for them. They’re pretty 
fierce, and they’ll attack anything under the 
sun.” 

‘‘Gee!” said Bobby, “if I had known that, 
I think I’d have spent the night up a tree. I 
could hear one pretty close while I was keeping 
the fire going, too.” 


161 


162 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Probably be was attracted by the light of 
the fire,’’ said Lee. “But I don’t think they’ll 
bother any one on land, as a rule. But they’ll 
tackle anything in the water, and if they once 
get a grip with those pointed teeth of theirs, 
its all over for the one that’s caught.” The 
alligator just drags him down under the surface, 
waits until he’s drowned and then drags him 
up on the nearest sandbank and swallows him 
at his leisure.” 

“That’s fine — for the alligator,” muttered 
Fred, with a slight shiver which was not all the 
result of the clinging mist. “I don’t think I’ll 
do much swimming while we’re in this swamp.” 

“I’d advise you not to,” said Lee. “I sure 
hate ’gators, but just the same I wouldn’t mind 
finding a few of their eggs for breakfast.” 

“Eggs!” exclaimed Bobby and Fred to- 
gether. 

“Certainly,” said Lee, laughing at their 
amazed look. “I don’t care for them much as 
a rule, but one or two now wouldn’t be half 
bad.” 

“Good-night!” exclaimed Fred. “What do 
they taste like, anyway?” 

“Oh, they’re not so bad. They have a rather 


163 


In Desperate Peril 

unpleasant musky taste, but if you’re hungry 
enough you don’t mind that. The darkeys think 
they ’re fine, and spend a lot of time hunting them 
out.” 

‘‘Where do you find the eggs?” inquired Fredl 

“The ’gators dig out holes in the sand or mud, 
fill them with eggs, and then cover the whole thing 
over with more sand,” said Lee. “After a while 
the heat of the sun hatches out the eggs, and then 
the mother ’gator takes charge of the little fel- 
lows and protects them until they’re big enough 
to take care of themselves.” 

• “Well, I feel hungry enough now to eat an al- 
ligator egg omelet,” said Bobby. “I think we’d 
better get started, and maybe we’ll run across one 
of those cute little nests Lee was telling us about.” 

After eating the last of the fish they had caught 
the day before, the boys started out, intending to 
follow the river as nearly as possible. But they 
soon found that the ground kept getting softer at 
every step they took, and were forced to bear 
away from the stream, although still keeping as 
near as possible to the right direction. Lee was 
more experienced than the other boys in the mat- 
ter of making progress over this kind of treacher- 
ous footing, and he took the lead. On every side 


164 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

dark pools of water oozed up through the quaking 
ground. Here and there tussocks of grass had 
formed, and these offered the only footing to be 
had at all. Even these were very soft and shaky, 
and it was necessary to leap continually from one 
to the other in order to avoid sinking in. At rare 
intervals some larger hillock then usual would 
give the boys a chance to rest a few minutes and 
get their breath, and it was on one of these that 
they paused at last, panting and tired. 

“Gee!’^ exclaimed Bobby, as he mopped at his 
streaming face. “A mile of this is worse than 
ten miles on hard ground.^’ 

‘‘Harder, and a lot more dangerous,’^ agreed 
Lee, soberly. “One fall into one of those green 
pools and you^d be done for. It would suck you 
down so fast that nothing could save you.’’ 

The heat was growing intense, and, aided by the 
rank steam that ascended from the rotting vegeta- 
tion, seemed almost unbearable. But the boys 
kn*ew that they had to keep on, because if dark- 
ness found them before they reached some firmer 
ground, their fate would be sealed. After night- 
fall they would be almost certain to fall into one 
of the green and stagnant pools and be sucked 
down to a horrible death. 


165 


In Desperate Peril 

Even as tlie boys tried to rest and get their 
breath, they could feel their feet slowly sinking 
into the muddy grass, and as they lifted their 
feet pools of water formed in the depressions left 
by them. 

‘ ^ Guess it ^s a case of ^ keep moving,’ ” said Fred, 
as one foot sank in to his ankles and he pulled it 
out with difficulty. ^ ^ This swamp is the last place 
in the world I’d pick for a hike if I had my 
choice. ’ ’ 

‘^There’s no choice about this,” said Bobby, 
setting his lips grimly. ‘‘We’re here, and we’ve 
got to get out just as soon as we can. Let’s go!” 

Somewhat rested by their brief halt, they 
started on again. Suddenly Lee, who was ahead, 
shouted a warning. 

“We can’t get any farther this way!” he cried, 
as Bobby and Fred caught up with him, and he 
pointed ahead. Ther boys saw a large stagnant 
pond, covered with green scum, from which pro- 
truded the rotting trunks of trees. At intervals 
around the bank lay what appeared to be other 
logs, but even as they looked, one of these seeming 
logs stirred, and crawling slowly through the ooze, 
flopped into the water with a loud splash. 

“We’re blocked, sure enough,” said Bobby. 


166 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Well have to go back and try some fresh path/^ 

‘ ‘ Looks that way, ’ ’ assented Lee. “ And I hope 
we find some bit of solid ground soon, fellows, 
because I^m pretty near all in. I can’t go much 
further.” 

For the first time the boys realized the deadly 
danger in which they stood. The strenuous ex- 
ertions necessary to keep away from being swal- 
lowed up by the black mud, the terrific heat, and 
the deadly gases that rose continually from the 
rotting vegetable matter, were all combining to 
sap their strength. And if that once gave out they 
realized there was no alternative but death in 
the clinging, suffocating mud. 

Bobby felt his own heart sink, but he showed 
nothing of this in his manner as .he said: “Ah, 
well be all right in a little while, Lee. We’re 
bound to hit dry ground pretty soon. Keep a 
stiff upper lip and we’ll get through right 
enough. ’ ’ 

“Well, you’d better set the pace, and I’ll do my 
best to keep up,” returned the Southern boy. 

Accordingly, Bobby started off, followed by Lee, 
with Fred last. Bobby had become somewhat 
used to picking his way over the grass tussocks 
by this time, and in addition he seemed to have 


In Desperate Peril 167 

a sort of instinct which told him what path to 
take and which to avoid. Under his guidance 
they made better progress, and after a time Fred 
remarked : 

‘‘I may be only dreaming, but it seems to me 
that the ground is getting a little firmer. What 
do you fellows think U' 

‘‘I reckon it is,’’ panted Lee. ^‘I’ve heard the 
darkeys say there was an island in the swamp 
somewhere, and maybe we’re getting near it.” 

Sure enough, they soon spied higher ground 
ahead of them, with some trees growing on it. 
The sight gave them fresh courage, and they 
struggled gamely on, until at last came a time 
when they could put foot to ground without feel- 
ing it sink into slimy mud. 


CHAPTER XX 


THE ALLIGATOR JAWS 

‘‘Thank Heaven,’’ gasped Lee, as the three 
boys threw themselves down and lay panting in 
the grateful shade of a big tree. “I’m all in. I 
couldn’t possibly have gone half a mile more.” 

‘ ‘ I guess we ’re about as badj ’ ’ said Fred. “I’m 
willing to admit that I was never so near the end 
of my rope. Any one would have thought you 
knew this island was here, Bobby, from the way 
you headed for it. ’ ’ 

“It was just a guess,” declared Bobby. “I 
figured that probably if we got further away from 
the river the ground might be less swampy and 
it would pay us to go in that direction even if we 
were getting farther from home.” 

“We wouldn’t have got there very fast the way 
I was heading you anyway,” said Lee. “Poor 
mother will be terribly worried about us.” 

“Yes,” agreed Bobby soberly, “that’s the 
trouble ; when, we fellows get into trouble of any 
168 


The Alligator’s Jaws 169 

kind, onr mothers suffer more over it than we 
do.’’ 

In a short time they had recovered a good deal 
from their strenuous exertions, and now all three 
found themselves ravenously hungry. But to feel 
hungry and to satisfy that hunger were two very 
different things, as they soon discovered. They 
had read of people marooned on islands in the 
ocean, hut in every such case there had seemed to 
be a convenient flock of goats or a handy beach 
strewn with shellfish. But after the boys had 
thoroughly ransacked their island, they found no 
such convenient supply. The place was only 
about a quarter of a mile across, hemmed in on 
every side with brown water and black mud. 

Luckily, however, they had hung onto their 
fishing rods, and they had no difficulty in digging 
up a plentiful supply of worms in the rich earth. 
Pred was the first to get a bite, and he reeled in. 
the fish as fast as he could, being much too eager 
to see the fish .toasting over a fire to make any at- 
tempt to ^^play” him. It was not long before 
they had four small fish, and these they proceeded 
to clean and kill without wasting any time over 
it. 

‘ ^ Scubbity-yow ! ” exclaimed Fred, as he bit 


170 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

into the delicious morsel, ‘‘I never knew a fish 
could taste so good. These fellows are only sam- 
ples. Well have to get busy and catch about 
a hundred more before 111 feel satisfied.’’ 

‘‘If you’ll eat a hundred, I’ll catch them for 
you,” laughed Bobby. 

“And I’ll clean them and cook them for you,” 
seconded Lee. 

“All right, go ahead and start in,” said Fred, 
but the others were not to be taken in so easily. 

“No, you don’t,’^ laughed Bobby. “You get 
busy and catch some yourself. I’ll bet you 
couldn’t eat two more to save your life.” 

“Well, I’d have a lot of fun trying, anyway,” 
said Fred, regretfully. “But if you fellows are 
too lazy to catch fish for me, I suppose I’ll have 
to do it myself. 

“Looks a lot that way,” agreed Lee, as he cast 
his line into the water. “You’d better hurry, 
too, before Bobby and I have them all out. ’ ’ 

They caught and ate fish until they could eat 
no more, and then lay down in the shade to rest. 

“This might be worse, I suppose,’* said Bobby, 
chewing reflectively on a long blade of grass. “A 
couple of hours ago it would have seemed like 
Heaven to us. ’ ’ 


171 


The Alligator’s Jaws 

‘‘It isn^t so bad here,’’ said Lee, “but we can’t 
stay here forever, and after we leave we’ll be as 
badly off as we were before.” 

“Likely,” admitted Bobby, “but then, on the 
other hand, it doesn’t seem possible we’ll strike 
anything worse than we went through this morn- 
ing, anyway.” 

“Oh, cut out worrying about the future,” broke 
in Fred. “For my part, I’ve had enough to eat 
— although I’ll admit a steady fish diet is be- 
ginning to get tiresome — and I’ve got a soft and 
shady place to lie where I can hear the little birdies 
singing. So why worry, say I.” 

“Yes,” said Lee, scornfully, “and you can hear 
the pretty alligators singing, too, if you listen 
hard. Not to mention the mosquitoes and bull- 
frogs.” 

“Better let him be cheerful while he can, Lee,” 
said Bobby. “He’ll soon forget how happy he is 
after we get started again.” 

“Well, we’ve got a lot to be thankful for, any- 
way,” contended Fred. “Suppose we’d all been 
as fat as Pee Wee, and had to go hopping through 
this everlasting swamp like — like — ” 

“Like turkeys on a hot stove?” suggested Lee. 

“That seems to about cover it.” said Fred, with 


172 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

a laugh, “even if it isn’t very complimentary to 
us. But as I was saying, if we’d all been as fat 
as Pee Wee, we ’d never have got here at all. This 
swamp was never intended for heavyweights.” 

“I don’t think it was ever intended for any kind 
of human being,” said Lee. 

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” said Bobby. 
“It strikes me that this would be an ideal place to 
put Ap Plunkit and Ben Tompkins, for instance.” 

“Wow!” yelled Fred, delightedly. “You cer- 
tainly had an idea that time, Bobby. And while 
we’re at it, why not Sandy Jackson and his friend. 
Snath? Seems to me they’d fit in pretty well, 
too.” 

“Come to think of it, though,” said Bobby, with 
a serious air, “don’t you think it would be play- 
ing it rather low down on the poor alligators? 
What have they ever done to us that we should 
wish that bunch on them?” 

“Perhaps you’re right,” conceded Fred. “I 
hadn’t thought of that before. But I guess some 
of those big fellows we saw this morning are able 
to take care of themselves.” 

“I don’t know who those fellows are you’re 
talking abgut, except Snath,” said Lee, “but if 
they’re any meaner than alligators, I don’t want 


V 


The Alligator Jaws 173 

to know anything about them. They^re the 
meanest things alive, I think. 

‘‘Speaking of ’gators reminds me,” said Bobby, 
“why not try and locate some of those eggs you 
were telling us about, Lee? A little change of 
diet wouldn’t do us any harm.” 

‘^All right, let’s look for some,” said Lee, 
springing to his feet, “that is, if Fred isn’t having 
too good a time doing nothing to be disturbed. ’ ’ 

“No rest for the wicked,” groaned Fred, scram- 
bling to his feet. “Lead on, Lee, I’m with you.” 

The three boys followed around the shore, look- 
ing for a sandy beach, which, as Lee told them, 
was the most likely place to find the eggs. Lee 
had cut himself a sharp stick, and when they had 
at last found a sandy place, he stuck this into the 
sand at intervals, afterwards examining the end to 
see if it had found a nest. After quite a time 
spent in fruitless proddings, he at last met with 
success. The end of the stick came up dripping 
yellow. 

“Here’s a nest!” he shouted. “Dig in, fellows 
and we’ll soon have all we want.” 

Suiting the action to the word, he began scoop- 
ing up the sand with his hands, and Bobby and 
Fred followed suit. In a short time they had un- 


174 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

covered a small heap of alligator eggs, each one 
about the size of a goose ’s egg. Absorbed in their 
find, they had no thought of danger, until sud- 
denly Bobby, chancing to glance up, gave a wild 
yell of warning. Springing to their feet, Fred 
and Lee saw a huge alligator, measuring a good 
fifteen feet, almost on top of them, great jaws 
gaping and small, vicious eyes snapping wickedly ! 


CHAPTER XXI 


A TEKRIBLE MOMENT 

All three boys jumped for safety, but Fred’s 
ankle turned in the soft sand, and he fell, striking 
his head against a stone as he went down. 
Stunned, he lay an easy prey for the alligator, 
that made for him with all the speed of which it 
was capable. 

For a brief second Bobby and Lee stood rooted 
in their tracks, appalled at the horrible menace 
to their friend. Then, quick as a flash, Bobby 
leaped toward the ugly monster, picking up the 
stick Lee had been using for hunting eggs. 

The alligator was not ten feet from Fred when 
Bobby leaped in front of it, and using the stick as 
a club, dealt the ferocious brute a stinging blow 
on the end of its snout. The vicious little eyes 
blinked, but the monster did not stop. Again 
Bobby struck, with all the strength of his sinewy 
young arm. The great jaws snapped wickedly, 

175 


176 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

but the alligator could not stand this severe pain 
in the only sensitive part of his anatomy, and it 
stopped a moment, glaring at this presumptuous 
human who looked so small and yet could hurt so 
much. Following up his advantage, Bobby struck 
again, and at the same second Lee dashed in and, 
exerting all his strength, lifted Fred in his arms 
and staggered off with him. 

The alligator, infuriated at being thus deprived 
of its prey, made a wild lunge at Bobby, who tried 
to land another effective blow on the sensitive 
snout. But this time he missed, and the big rep- 
tile caught the stick in its jaws, snapping it to 
splinters. Bobby was thrown off his balance and 
nearly followed the stick, but recovered his poise 
just in time, for the alligator turned with sur- 
prising agility and slashed at him with its heavy 
tail. Had that deadly blow reached its mark 
Bobby ^s career would have ended. He could not 
recover his balance in time to run, but as the 
powerful tail whizzed toward him he seized the 
only chance left him, and leaped clear over it. 
The alligator never got another chance at him, 
for when he landed he was off like a shot after 
his chums. The alligator followed him for a few 
steps, but apparently saw that it was hopeless to 


A Terrible Moment 


177 


try to catch him, and turning, dragged itself down 
to the water, which it entered with a sullen splash. 

Bobby, seeing this over his shoulder, slowed 
down and called to Lee, who laid Fred on the 
ground and started trying to revive him. By the 
time Bobby arrived Fred had opened his eyes, and 
now, with Lee’s help, he made shift to sit up. 

‘‘What happened to me?” he inquired, feebly. 

“Not near as much as almost happened to 
you,” said Bobby. “You came pretty near wak- 
ing up inside an alligator. But how do you feel 
now, Fred?” and he knelt beside his chum to ex- 
amine a bad looking cut just over his temple. 

“Oh, a little dizzy but I guess I can still sit up 
and take notice,” said Fred, with a weak grin. 
“I remember falling now, and I suppose I must 
have knocked my head on something. What hap- 
pened after that?” 

“Oh, nothing much,” said Bobby. “I took the 
alligator’s attention off you, and Lee toted you 
away to a safer place than the neighborhood of 
that nest. I’ve got an idea that must have been 
the owner of those eggs that attacked us.” 

“The way you tell it, it doesn’t seem ’like much, 
but I’ve got an idea you and Lee saved my life,” 
said Fred. 


178 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘ ‘ Oh well, we only did what you would have done 
for either of us if we had been down and out,’’ 
said Bobby, ‘‘so let’s forget about it. The worst 
part of it is we’re as far as ever from having alli- 
gator egg omelet.” 

“Well, let’s go back and get them, then,’^ said 
Fred coolly, getting to his feet. “My head still 
feels a little funny, but anyway I can keep a look- 
out, while you two get the eggs. We won’t be 
caught napping this time, and I guess we can run 
faster than, any ’gator. ’ ’ 

“I like your nerve, anyway!” exclaimed Lee, 
“Here you’ve been within an ace of being gobbled 
up by that ugly brute, and still you want to go 
back and have another try at her precious eggs. 
Likely enough she’ll get you for good this time.” 

“I’m game to try it, anyway,” said Bobby. 
“But I don’t think you’d better come, Fred. 
That was a pretty bad crack you got, and you’d 
better wait here while we try it.” 

“Not a bit of it,” protested Fred. “I feel all 
right now, and I’m going to have alligator eggs 
for supper if I have to go for them alone.” 

“All right then, back we go,” said Bobby, and 
the three boys retraced their steps to where they 
had all three narrowly escaped death only a few 


A Terrible Moment 


179 


minutes before. When they arrived, there was no 
sign of the alligator, however, and it did not take 
them long to uncover the eggs. There was a large 
number of them, each one about the size and shape 
of a large goose egg, and the boys took off their 
coats and wrapped as many of the eggs as they 
could carry in them. But they took no chances of 
being surprised this time, and kept a sharp look- 
out. And it was well they did, for they had no 
more than got the eggs wrapped up than Lee gave 
a shout of warning. 

‘‘Here she comes, fellows!’^ he yelled, “let’s 
go!” 

The boys needed no second admonition, but af- 
ter a startled glance, took to their heels in most 
earnest fashion. For sure enough, the mother 
alligator, after cooling her smarting nose in the 
water, had had an uneasy feeling that all was 
not well, and had started up the bank to investi- 
gate. When she caught sight of the boys she 
gave a bellow and dragged herself through the 
sand at increased speed, but the boys did not wait 
for her coming this time, and were soon at a safe 
distance. 

‘ ‘ Gee ! ’ ’ exclaimed Bobby, slowing down. “ It ’s 
a lucky thing that alligators can’t run fast. If 


180 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

they could, I guess we’d have to live in trees.” 

‘^They’re slow enough on land, but you ought 
to see them in the water,” returned Lee. ‘‘They 
can go fast enough then, believe me.” 

“I’ll believe you right away, without putting it 
to a test,” laughed Fred. “An alligator’s mouth 
seems too full of teeth to suit me.” 

“Yes, they have got a pretty complete outfit,” 
said Lee, “and they keep growing in all the time, 
the new ones forcing out the old. I’ve heard that 
a ’gator has four or five sets of teeth during a 
lifetime.” 

“Gee!” exclaimed Bobby. “I should think 
one set like that would last any animal a life- 
time.” 

“Yes, but they often break them taking bites 
out of people who try to steal their eggs,” said 
Lee. “It must hurt the poor alligators when they 
break a tooth that way.” 

“That’s the only reason I ran so fast,” said 
Fred. “I wasn’t afraid of the alligator, but I 
didn’t want the poor thing to hurt its teeth 
on me.” 

“Oh, we believe that,” said Lee sarcastically. 

“Well, if you believe that, you’ll believe any- 


A Terrible Moment 181 

thing,” said Fred brazenly. ‘‘I’ll have to think 
up something real good next time.*^’ 

“I don’t mind telling you fellows the real rea- 
son why I ran, if you coax me,” declared Bobby. 
“I’ll bite,” said Lee. “Why did you run?” 
“Because I couldn’t fly,” replied Bobby. 


CHAPTER XXII 


THE DISTANT HOWL 

‘‘That sounds like one of Billy’s jokes,” de- 
clared Fred, “and I can’t say anything worse 
than that about it.” 

“Xo, that’s a pretty hard knock, all right,” ad- 
mitted Bobby, “but I’ll try not to do it again.” 

“As a punishment, I vote that we appoint 
Bobby to try the first alligator’s egg,” suggested 
Lee. 

“Second the motion!” shouted Fred en- 
thusiastically. “You’re unanimously elected, 
Bobby.” 

“Well, somebody had to try Limhurger cheese 
the first time,” said Bobby, “so I suppose I might 
as well he the goat this time. But you’ll have to 
tell me how to cook them, Lee.” 

“You can cook them any way, the same as a 
hen’s egg,” said Lee. “But I suppose, seeing 
we’ve nothing to boil water in, that we’d better 
roast a few and try them that way.” 

182 


The Distant Howl 


183 


‘Ht doesu^t matter to me,’^ said Bobby. “As 
long as I’m to be official taster, they’ll probably 
taste just as bad one way as another. ’ ’ 

During this conversation, the boys had been 
heading for the spot here they had eaten lunch, 
and having reached it they proceeded to build a 
fire. They soon had a good blaze going, and in 
accordance with Lee ’s directions, let it burn down 
until there was nothing but red embers left. 
Then they dug out a space under the ashes, placed 
a few of the eggs in the hollow, and raked the hot 
ashes over them. 

“Leave them there a few minutes, and they’ll 
be fit for a king to eat,” said the Southern boy. 

“Seems to me you’re what Mr. Leith would call 
an unbounded optimist,” said Bobby. “I’ve got 
my doubts if they’ll even be fit for me to eat, let 
alone a king. ’ ’ 

“Well, we won’t have long to wait to find out,” 
said Lee. “I imagine they’re pretty nearly 
cooked now.” 

“Oh, don’t be in a hurry,” said Bobby. “I’m 
perfectly willing to wait a while, you know.” 

“Maybe you are, but we’re not,” retorted Lee, 
as he scraped the fire aside and fished out an egg. 
“Here you are, Bobby, I’ve tasted them before. 


184 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

and they’re not really so bad, especially when 
you’re hungry. Go to it.” 

‘‘How do you eat the things, anyway?” asked 
Bobby, looking doubtfully at the strange object. 
“I suppose neither of you happens to have an egg 
cup and a spoon, in your pocket, have you?” 

“I usually carry them around with me, but I 
reckon I must have lost them,” said Lee, sarcasti- 
cally. “Just chip the end off, and go to it, Bobby. 
You’ll enjoy it, believe me.” 

“I’d like to believe you, but I’m afraid I can’t,” 
said Bobby. “Well, I can only die once. Good- 
by, fellows. Here goes.” 

He chipped part of the thick outside covering 
off the egg, and very gingerly took a small bite. 

“What’s it like?” questioned Fred, watching 
him anxiously. “Is it as bad as I think it is?” 

“It isn’t bad at all, if I only had a little salt to 
go with it,” said Bobby, taking another and 
larger bite this time. “You fellows had better 
dig in, or there won’t be any left.” 

“What does it taste like, anyway?” asked Fred, 
doubtfully. 

“Alligator egg,” returned Bobby, munching 
away. “I was elected to try these eggs first, but 
there was nothing in it about telling you fellows 


The Distant Howl 


185 


what they tasted like. Try ^em for yourselves. ^ ^ 

‘‘But that was the idea that you should taste 

them, so you could tell us whether they were good 
or not,” complained Fred. 

“You should have thought of that at the time, 

then, ” said Bobby. “It’s too late now. Help 
yourself. After all, the only way to learn is by 
experience, as the coach is always telling us back 
at Eockledge.” 

“Well, I’m getting hungry enough to eat an alli- 
gator, much less its eggs. Pass me over one of 
those things, will you, Leef ” 

“Sure thing,” said that individual, “and while 
I’m about it, I reckon I’ll have one for myself.” 

Presently all three boys were munching away, 
and after they had each eaten two of the eggs the 
general verdict was that they “were not half 
bad.” 

“I only wish I could get a few home with me,” 
said Bobby, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. 
“I’d like to give a few to our cook, Meena, and see 
what she’d do about it. She says she doesn’t like 
boys, and I’ve got a hunch she’d like this one less 
after that.” 

“I wish I had a few of her doughnuts,” sighed 
Fred. “I don’t think she likes me much, but 


186 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

sometimes I can’t kelp liking her after I’ve eaten 
some of the good things she cooks.” 

‘‘Please don’t mention it,” returned Bobby. 
“It makes my mouth water just to think of it. 
Those eggs are filling, but that’s about the best 
you can say of them. But I suppose we ought to 
be thankful to have even them. Those and what 
fish we can catch wouldn’t keep us going very long, 
though. When shall we make another try to get 
out of this everlasting swamp?” 

“I think we’d better start as soon as it’s light 
enough to see, to-morrow,” said Lee. “I hate to 
think of tackling the bog again, but we’ve just 
got to do it.” 

“Well, then, that’s settled,” came from Fred. 
“We’ll get a good sleep to-night and start strong, 
anyway. Don’t you think it would be a good idea 
to cook a lot of those eggs and take them along 
with us? There’s no telling how long it may be 
before we find any other food.” 

‘ ‘ That ’s a good idea, ’ ’ said Bobby. ‘ ‘ Let ’s get 
busy and cook some right now. Thank fortune 
they are fresh.” 

Before long the boys had a dozen of the alliga- 
tor’s eggs cooked hard. By the time they had fin- 
ished this task, it was nearly dark, and after 


The Distant Howl 


187 


gathering a good supply of firewood they built up 
the blaze and lay down to discuss their plans for 
the morrow. 

As night came on all manner of strange noises 
arose from the swamp, chief among them being 
the snorting bellow of the alligators. Suddenly, 
in a momentary lull, they heard, far off, a wild, 
long-drawn cry, that hushed their voices and set 
their hair creeping. 

The shrieking wail, carrying an indescribable 
note of ferocity and menace, rose and fell, and 
then, was gone, eclipsed by the nearer noises of the 
swamp, that now resumed their usual volume. 

‘‘What was thatT’ whispered Fred, as the boys 
gazed wide-eyed at each other. 

“That was the cry of a cougar,’^ said Lee, his 
voice a trifie shaky. 

“A cougar!’^ exclaimed Fred, “what’s that?” 

“Its a kind of panther,” explained Lee. 
“There used to be a lot of them around here, but 
now there aren’t many left. What there are, 
though, are fierce enough to make up for that.” 

“Gee!” exclaimed Bobby. “I hope that fellow 
doesn’t take it into his head to pay us a visit.” 

“He wouldn’t be likely to come into the swamp 
this far,” said Lee, although there was not much 


188 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

conviction, in his voice. ‘‘But well have to be on 
our guard anyway. We’d better stand watches 
to-night and keep the fire going.” 

“We’d probably have had to do that, anyhow,” 
said Fred. “Your Southern winters aren’t like 
the ones we ’re used to up North, but just the same 
it’s pretty cold sleeping out at night without any 
blankets.” 

“I should say so,” said Bobby. “It’s fairly 
warm when the sun’s shining, but I thought I was 
going to freeze to death last night, sure. ’ ’ 

The boys listened anxiously for a repetition of 
the wild cry that had so disturbed them, but ap- 
parently the cougar was not coming in their direc- 
tion, for they heard nothing further to indicate 
his presence. Nevertheless, they kept a good fire 
going all that night, which prevented the one on 
watch from seeing two glowing green eyes whose 
owner prowled restlessly about just beyond range 
of the firelight, as silent as any shadow but more 
to be feared than the bellowing alligators, who 
made the night hideous with their noise. 


CHAPTER XXin 


TRACKED BY A PANTHER 

But in the morning there was no sign of this 
midnight prowler, and with the rising sun the boys 
gave little thought to the weird sounds of the night 
before. They were up at the first break of dawn, 
somewhat sore and stiff from the effects of their 
hard bed, but still full of ‘‘pep’’ for anything the 
day might have to offer. 

They had decided to follow in a general way the 
course that had taken them so far, that is, head in 
the general direction of home, but still keep away 
from the impassable low ground in the vicinity of 
the river. Bobby wanted Lee to take the lead, but 
the latter objected. 

“I got us into a pretty bad mess the last time,” 
he said, “and you got us out again. So now, 
you^d better lead again.” 

“Oh, it was mostly luck on my part,” Bobby re- 
plied. “How did I know we were going to hit 
on this island?” 


189 


190 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

^^Your brand of luck is what we need, then,’’ 
said Lee. ‘‘Let’s hope it will hold out long 
enough to get us out of this swamp.” 

“Well, I’ll do my best, then,” said Bobby, “but 
don’t blame me if I land you at the bottom of 
some nice mudhole.” 

“I’ll take a chance on your getting through all 
right, and it will be more than luck that does it, 
too,” said Fred. 

“Let’s go, then,” urged Bobby; and the three 
friends resumed their perilous journey. 

They had by this time become so expert in 
choosing the best spots to step that they found 
their progress less arduous than they had ex- 
pected. But now a new difficulty arose, for the 
sun became clouded over, and this left them at a 
loss as to direction, this having been their only 
guide so far. 

Bobby grew more and more anxious as the hazi- 
ness continued to increase, and at last called a 
halt on a bit of high ground that was a little 
harder than the surrounding bog. 

“Looks as though we’re rather up against it 
now, fellows,” he said. “If we can’t see the sun, 
we won’t know what direction we’re going in, and 


Tracked by a Panther 191 

chances are we’ll just be getting in deeper all the 
time instead of getting out.” 

‘‘But we can’t stay here,” objected Lee. 
“We’ve just got to keep going, and hope we’ll 
come out somewhere, anyway. We know we’re 
headed about right now, so why not try to keep on 
that way?” 

Bobby shook his head doubtfully, but as there 
seemed to be no alternative, except to return to 
their island, he started on again. Indeed, he felt 
far from certain that he could find the island 
again, or he might have proposed going back to it. 

Fortunately, the ground seemed to be getting 
somewhat firmer, but as they progressed the trees 
and undergrowth became so dense that they found 
increasing difficulty in, making progress. Several 
times Bobby stopped and peered about uneasily 
among the trees, apparently in search of some'- 
thing which he could not locate. 

“What’s the matter, Bobby?” asked Ft’ed, at 
last, made uneasy by his friend’s uneasiness. 
“What are you looking for, anyway?” 

“I may be wrong,” said Bobby, stopping again, 
“but I can’t help feeling as though we were being 
followed and watched by something. I thought I 


192 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

saw something in the underbrush just a little while 
ago, but it was gone so quickly that I couldn’t be 
sure.” 

‘‘What did it look like?” queried Lee, quickly. 

“I’m not sure, as I say, that I saw anything,” 
said Bobby, “but it just seemed to me as though 
I saw a flash of light brown against a tree trunk, 
and then it disappeared so quickly that I thought 
I might be mistaken.” 

“Light brown?” whispered Lee, with a fright- 
ened look in his eyes. “Bobby, that’s the color 
of a cougar, and you remember that cry we heard 
last night — ” 

His voice trailed off into silence, and the boys 
peered fearfully through the matted tangle of 
vines and underbrush. They could see nothing to 
confirm their fears, but suddenly a twig snapped 
not far from this, and they thought they could 
hear a stealthy rustling. 

“What would we better do, Bobby?” asked 
Fred, anxiously. “If we only had a gun with us, 
we could soon take care of that fellow if he comes 
after us, bu.t as it is — ” 

He had no need to finish the sentence, for his 
companions knew what he meant. Unarmed, with 
not even a knife among them, except, of course, 


Tracked by a Panther 193 

their pocket knives, they would be no match for 
the savage beast that was stalking them. In all 
probability, as Lee told them, the panther would 
wait until toward dark, and then leap on them at 
the first opportunity. 

‘‘If that’s so,” said Bobby, who had been doing 
some quick thinking, “it seems to me as though 
we’d best pick out the place to fight it out instead 
of leaving it to Mr. Cougar. ’ ’ 

“Yes, but one place looks about as bad as an- 
other to me around here,” said Lee. “What’s 
your idea, Bobby?” 

“I think we’d better get up a tree,” said Bobby, 
“then if he comes up after us, as he’ll probably 
do if we keep him waiting long enough, we ’ll have 
a chance of beating him off with clubs. On the 
ground here there ’s hardly room enough to move, 
and he’d have us at his mercy.” 

Bobby had hardly finished speaking when they 
heard another stick snap, closer this time than 
before, and although still they could see nothing, 
they had little need of their eyes to tell them that 
the peril was close and imminent. 

“There’s a big tree over there,” said Bobby, 
pointing to a towering giant that stood somewhat 
apart from the rest. “We’ll make for that, but 


194 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

take it easy, so it won’t look as though we were 
in a hurry.” 

He started toward the tree indicated, pausing 
only long enough to pick up a stout section of a 
fallen branch that lay at his feet. Fred and Lee 
followed his example, and they made quietly for 
the tree, controlling an almost overpowering im- 
pulse to break into a run. They kept a wary 
lookout, and before they reached it, all three saw 
the cougar plainly as he crossed a slight opening 
in the underbrush. He was gone again in a sec- 
ond, but the boys knew now beyond any doubt who 
their enemy was. 

We ’ll be lucky if he leaves us alone until we 
get up the tree,” said Fred, voicing the thought 
that was in all their minds. 

“We’ll have to chance that,” said Bobby. “Idl 
be the last one to go up, and I’ll pass the clubs up 
to you.” 

By this time they had reached the tree, still un- 
molested by the panther. Lee started up first, 
and then Fred. Bobby admitted afterward that 
he spent a nervous two minutes on the ground, 
waiting for them to get far enough up so that he 
could start. Every second he expected a lithe 
form to hurl itself upon him. In reality it was 


Tracked by a Panther 195 

only a few seconds before Fred reached down for 
the clubs, for both he and Lee were climbing 
faster than they had ever done before in all their 
active lives. The boys passed the clubs from one 
to the other, two climbing while the other hung 
on and held them, and in this manner they quickly 
negotiated the twenty odd feet to the heavy 
branches. As they swung themselves into a 
broad fork they noticed for the first time that 
their fingers were torn and bleeding from con- 
tact with the rough bark, but they were too thank- 
ful at being there to worry about that. 

‘‘Gee!’^ exclaimed Bobby, drawing a long 
breath of relief as he peered downward in search 
of their foe, ‘‘I expected to feel that brute ^s claws 
in my shoulder every second. ’ ’ 

^^So did said Fred. ‘^If he’d attacked us 
while we were shinnying up, it would have been all 
over for us.” 

‘^We’re a long way from being safe yet,” Lee 
reminded them. ‘‘That beast can climb a tree 
like a cat going over a fence, and he won’t leave 
us alone here, you can bet on that.” 

“Well, let him come,” said Bobby, coolly, as he 
drew his jackknife and proceeded to whittle a 
handle on his club. “We’ve got a chance here 


196 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

anyway. I only hope he doesn^t try to starve 
us out. We can’t stay up here forever, if he de- 
cides to play a waiting game. ’ ’ 

‘‘There he is!” shouted Lee, almost before 
Bobby had ceased speaking. And sure enough, 
the cougar, apparently deciding that he would 
no longer keep to cover, came bounding out into 
the little open space at the base of the tree. He 
glared upward with baleful eyes and paced quickly 
around the tree a few times, switching his long 
tail and growling ominously. 

The boys gripped their clubs and braced them- 
selves, expecting the brute to come climbing up- 
ward at any second. The cougar seemed in no 
hurry, however, but kept circling the tree, growl- 
ing louder all the time and evidently working him- 
self into a greater rage with every step. 

“Hold my club a minute, Fred,” exclaimed 
Bobby, suddenly. “I’ve got an idea,” and with- 
out further explanation, he set feverishly to work 
hacking off some of the smaller branches near 
him. Without exactly knowing what his plan was, 
Fred and Lee started cutting too, and between 
them they soon had quite an armful. Bobby then 
took all these branches, and with some fish line 
he drew from his pocket he proceeded to lash 


Tracked by a Panther 197 

them to the tree just below the crotch in which 
they were perched. 

^‘When he comes, that will slow him down, and 
give us a chance at him,’’ explained Bobby. 

^^Fine,” exclaimed Fred and Lee together. 
‘‘But look out, fellows!” Lee added, “he’s get- 
ting ready to climb!” 

The panther, who had been watching these pro- 
ceedings suspiciously, seemed suddenly to make 
up his mind, and with a vicious, spitting snarl 
leaped to the trunk of the tree and started up at a 
terrific pace. The boys gripped their clubs, and 
with wildly beating hearts awaited the onslaught 
of the ferocious animal. 


CHAPTER XXIV 


SWALLOWED UP BY THE BOG 

The cougar quickly reached the screen of 
branches that Bobby had arranged, and here he 
hesitated, not understanding the nature of this 
obstacle. The tawny head was within two feet of 
the boys, and they found themselves looking fairly 
into the wicked green eyes that glared at them 
through the frail network of branches. 

But the panther had little chance to solve the 
puzzle before him, for with one accord the boys, 
wielding their clubs with a strength born of des- 
peration, rained blows upon his head. The cou- 
gar growled and spit furiously, and struck vi- 
ciously at them with wicked claws extended. But 
he was at a disadvantage, for he could only use 
one paw, being forced to cling to the tree with the 
others. For a few minutes he battled furiously, 
and it seemed as though he would force his Way 
past the barrage of blows descending on him. 
One sweep of his paw caught Fred’s club and tore 

198 


199 


Swallowed up by the Bog 

it out of his grasp, and it was only by a tremend- 
ous effort that Fred kept himself from following 
it to the ground. Then Bobby, risking all on one 
blow, let go his hold on the branch, where he had 
been steadying himself, stood up to his full height, 
and, grasping his club in both hands, brought it 
down with tremendous force squarely between 
the cougar’s eyes. Stunned and bleeding, the 
animal had received all the punishment it could 
stand for the present, and, still spitting furiously, 
it backed down the tree and leaped to the ground. 

The boys were panting and well-nigh exhausted, 
but they still had strength left for a cheer as they 
gazed down at their discomfited enemy. 

^‘That was hot work while it lasted,” panted 
Fred. ^‘If it hadn’t been for that scheme of 
yours, Bobby, it would probably have been a 
different story.” 

‘^It did help some,” admitted Bobby. ^‘But 
we’re not through with that brute yet. You can 
see he’s working himself up to come after us 
again.” 

‘‘I’ve got to get another club,” said Fred, as he 
started hacking at a stout branch with his knife. 
“I don’t know how I ever kept from falling when 
he knocked that stick out of my hand.” 


200 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘It was lucky be connected with the club instead 
of with your hand/^ remarked Lee. “You’d bet- 
ter get that branch cut as quickly as you can. 
That beast will be up here again inside of five 
minutes.” 

“All right, I’m ready for him,” said Fred, as he 
cut through the last tough fibre and found himself 
provided with a serviceable club. “We can give 
him the same dose he got before.” 

The cougar was still full of fight, and Fred had 
hardly regained his position when the fierce brute 
came swarming up the tree again. But this time 
he did not stop at the screen of branches, most of 
which had been torn off in the previous struggle, 
and in spite of a staggering fusillade of blows he 
managed to reach the crotch in which the boys 
were standing. 

“Out onto the branches, fellows!” yelled Lee. 
“It’s our only chance ! ’ ’ 

Before the panther could get his balance and 
reach one of them, the boys had scrambled out on 
three separate branches, leaving the cougar in un- 
disputed possession of their former vantage 
ground. 

It was a breathless moment for all three, as they 
waited to see which one the animal would attack 


201 


Swallowed up by the Bog 

first. The cougar himself seemed undecided at 
first, glaring from one to the other, spitting and 
growling, viciously. Then, perhaps because he 
had happened to choose the largest branch, the 
ferocious beast started creeping toward Lee, his 
wicked yellow eyes staring fixedly at his victim. 

‘‘Help me out, fellows, or I’m a goner!” cried 
the Southern lad despairingly. 

His friends had no intention of leaving him to 
his fate. Some three feet above Lee’s branch 
were two others, almost parallel to it. Bobby 
and Fred, both moved by the same thought, se- 
lected each a branch and crawled cautiously out in 
the wake of the advancing cougar. 

The latter was proceeding cautiously, for the 
branch bent and swayed with his weight, and any- 
way, his prey seemed so securely within his reach 
that he saw no cause for hurry. He was so in- 
tent on Lee that he either did not notice the sway- 
ing of the branches over his head or else thought 
it not worth noticing. Lee kept edging further 
and further out on the branch, until at last the 
cougar, feeling it bend perilously beneath him, 
paused a moment in his deadly progress. This 
was Bobby’s and Fred’s opportunity, and they 
were not slow in taking advantage of it. They 


202 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

poised their clubs a second, and then, at the same 
time, brought them down full force on the wicked 
yellow head beneath them. 

No panther that ever lived could withstand that 
crushing impact, and the cougar went limp, lost 
his hold on the branch, and went crashing to the 
ground, twenty feet below, where he lay twitching 
convulsively. 

‘^Now^s our chance to make an end of this cus- 
tomer for once and all!^’ yelled Bobby. ‘^Come 
on down, fellows, and we ^11 finish him this 
time. ’ ’ 

Lee hastily scrambled back from the end of the 
branch, and all three boys slid down the trunk of 
the tree to where the cougar lay, still stunned from 
the terrific blow and from its fall. 

‘‘Quick,’’ said Bobby, “grab hold of him, and 
we’ll throw him into that big bog-hole we passed 
when we left the main path.” 

‘ ‘ Eight ! ’ ’ exclaimed Fred. ‘ ‘ But we ’ll have to 
act mighty quick. He’s apt to come to life any 
second.” 

It was all the boys could do to lift the big 
brute, but, with the strength of desperation, they 
managed it somehow, and half carried, half 
dragged, the unconscious panther to the slimy 


203 


Swallowed up by the Bog 

green pit that they had almost tumbled into them- 
selves while making for the tree. The pit was sur- 
rounded by an expanse of treacherous quicksand, 
and into this they shoved the cougar. The greedy 
quicksand received its victim with avidity, draw- 
ing the cougar down and down into its slimy 
depths, until with a dull sucking sound it closed 
over the bloodthirsty brute ^s head. 

The boys watched, fascinated, and almost found 
it in their hearts to pity their late enemy. He 
was gone as completely as though he had never 
existed, and the treacherous sand stretched out 
smooth and unbroken, not a quiver on its surface 
to tell that it had added one more victim to its 
already long list. 

“Gee,’’ exclaimed Bobby with a shudder, 
“that’s a terrible way to die, although that brute 
deserved all that was coming to him.” 

“Well, it’s pretty certain that he won’t bother 
us any more,” remarked Fred. “And I think 
we’re mighty lucky to be alive.” 

“I’ll say so!” exclaimed Lee, fervently. “I 
gave myself up for lost when. I found myself out 
on that limb with the panther not ten feet away 
from me. That was an awful wallop you fellows 
gave him. ’ ’ 


204 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘A wallop in time saves nine,’’ misquoted Fred, 
with a grin. 

‘‘It probably saved the nine that tbe cougar was 
figuring on giving me,” said Lee. 

“Looks to me as though that wallop lost nine,” 
said Bobby, slyly. 

“How do you make that outf” inquired Fred. 

“Why, it lost that big cat’s nine lives, didn’t 
it?” inquired Bobby, innocently. 

“It certainly did,” admitted Lee, laughing, 
“and you can bet I was in a position’to appreciate 
it, too. The business end of that panther was get- 
ting entirely too close to me for comfort.” 

“Well,” said Fred, “it must be Bobby’s turn 
next to get in a tight place. First I nearly get 
eaten up by an alligator, and then Lee pretty near 
furnishes a hearty meal for a hungry cougar. 
What variety of animals do you prefer, Bobby?” 

“Oh, I’m not jealous of all the attention you 
fellows get,” returned Bobby. “You can have 
your little pets and welcome.” 

“How generous he is, Lee, isn’t he?” said 
Fred, sarcastically. “But don’t forget the old 
saying, Bobby, that ‘he who laughs last, irri- 
tates.’ ” 


205 


Swallowed up by the Bog 

‘‘That must be a mighty old saying, all right — 
so old that everybody’s forgotten it but you,” 
said Bobby. 

“That just goes to show what a fine memory 
I have,” retorted Fred. “Whenever you can’t 
remember an old proverb, you try to make out 
that there never was such a one. Your memory 
is nothing but a hole with no bottom in it.” 

“All right, pick on my memory all you want 
to,” grinned Bobby, “but remember ‘it’s a long 
worm that has no turning. ’ ’ ’ 

“You fellows had better cut out all those fake 
proverbs and get down to business, ’ ’ warned Lee. 
“We’re just as far as ever from getting out of 
this swamp, and we don ’t even know where we ’re 
going to get our next meal. Why don’t you ex- 
ercise your minds on this problem: when do we 
eat, and if so, how?” 

“You certainly start otf with a terribly hard 
one,” said Fred. “Can’t you think of anything 
easier than that, Lee?” 

“I’m getting so hungry that I can’t think of 
anything else. It’s hours since the last of those 
alligator eggs disappeared,” complained Lee. 

“Then you shouldn’t have thrown the cougar 


206 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

into the quicksand,’^ retorted Fred, “he might 
have made tough eating, but it would have been 
a lot better than nothing.’’ 

“I thought of that,” admitted Lee, “But I 
was more anxious to keep him from eating me. 
Besides,” he added, “you and Bobby never 
thought of anything but getting rid of him at that 
time either.” 

“No use crying over spilt milk,” said Bobby, 
philosophically. “We’ll have to move and trust 
to luck for something to eat.” 

As neither of the others had anything better to 
suggest, they plodded back to the path they had 
been following when they were so rudely inter- 
rupted by the cougar. The haze had lightened 
considerably, and the sun shone through with the 
appearance of a big red ball, enabling the boys 
to pick their way for a short time, but then the 
haze settled down thicker than ever, and they 
found themselves entirely at a loss. Their only 
consolation was that the ground appeared to be 
getting steadily higher and firmer, and they felt 
that they had left the worst of the bog behind 
them. But the faint path they had been following 
grew less and less distinct, and before they fairly 
realized it they were hopelessly lost. For a time 


207 


Swallowed up by tbe Bog 

they stumbled on through a maze of vines and 
creepers that grew steadily thicker, until at last 
they became practically impassable. Then the 
boys were forced to call a halt, and they gazed 
at each other questioningly. 


CHAPTER XXV 


THE HUNTER CABIN 

Such a predicament would have discouraged 
older hearts than theirs. The long wandering in 
the swamp, the fight with the alligator and then 
one with the cougar, and after all to find them- 
selves apparently no nearer deliverance than 
when they started — it was a bitter pill to swallow. 

But no one of the boy& was of the kind that 
accepts defeat easily, and after the first pang of 
something akin to despair had vanished, they 
pulled themselves together and faced the situation 
bravely. 

^‘We’re a long way from being licked yet,’’ 
declared Bobby. ‘‘We’ll have to go back a way, 
and keep our eyes open for some sign of a path 
leading off from the one we used to get here.” 

“Yes, but if there had been one, we’d probably 
have seen it as we came along,” objected Fred. 

“But on the other hand,” argued Bobby, “we 
didn’t know then that this path would lead us 
into nothing at all, the way it has, and we weren’t 
208 


The Hunter’s Cabin 


209 


keeping such a sharp lookout for something bet- 
ter. At any rate, seeing that we can’t fly over the 
tops of these trees, it seems to me that’s our only 
chance.” 

Looks that way to me, too,” agreed Lee, ‘‘and 
the quicker we go the better, because it’s going 
to get dark within another two hours.” 

“All right, then,” said Bobby, decisively, 
“right about face, and* we ’ll be on our way.” 

They had gone about a mile, and were begin- 
ning to give up all hope of ever getting out of 
their predicament, when suddenly Bobby came 
to an abrupt halt. 

Some ten feet off the narrow track they were 
on, stood two giant boulders, close together, with 
hardly room between them for a grown man to 
squeeze through. The boys had hardly noticed 
them when they had passed them going in the 
other direction, but now Bobby ’s keen young eyes 
had seen some sign on one of them that caused 
his heart to leap. He ran over to the larger of 
the two boulders to verify his discovery, and 
there, sure enough, almost erased by the wind 
and weather but still perfectly plain to keen eyes, 
was the outline of an arrow rudely daubed on the 
face of the rock. 


210 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘But it seems to be pointing right between the 
rocks/’ said Lee, as all three boys bent over the 
faint outline. 

“Sure it is,” said Bobby, excitedly, “and right 
between the rocks is exactly where we’re going 
next,” and without further words he forced his 
way through the bushes that choked the narrow 
gap between the rocks, Fred and Lee following 
close at his heels. 

Bobby glanced quickly about him, and was not 
long in finding what he sought. There was a 
small semi-circle of gravel and shale at the back 
of the boulders, and at the edge of this little clear- 
ing, faint but unmistakable, was a narrow path 
leading into the dense undergrowth. 

“Hooray!” shouted Bobby. “This is the first 
sign of anything promising we’ve seen since 
Boolus stole our boat, and I’ll bet Meena’s crul- 
lers to crocodile eggs that this path will lead us 
out to civilization.” 

Fred and Lee were equally excited, and with 
renewed hope they entered the* narrow path and 
pressed forward, making little of the vines and 
fallen tree trunks that retarded their progress. 

Night was descending rapidly, and in the heavy 
woods it was almost dark when, tpanting and 


The Hunter’s Cabin 


211 


spent, the three boys staggered out into a little 
clearing, and before them could just make out 
the outlines of a rude log cabin, almost covered 
by vines. 

Thank Heaven!’’ exclaimed Lee. was be- 
ginning to think we’d have to spend another 
night in the swamp, and I’ve had enough of that 
to last me some time.” 

The others were hardly less relieved. The 
cabin at least would shelter them and keep out 
marauders like the cougar, and they felt sure 
that in the morning they would find a path lead- 
ing from it to the outer world. 

There was no sign of life about the cabin, and 
the door opened readily enough when they raised 
the latch by which it was fastened. The interior 
was pitch dark, but Bobby lit one of his few re- 
maining matches, and by its feeble light they 
peered about the little place. 

•‘‘Here’s luck.” exclaimed Fred, and from a 
dusty shelf reached down one of several long tal- 
low candles. “Whoever left them there must 
have known we’d be along and would need them.” 

“Whoever left them there, did it a long while 
ago,” said Lee. “Look how thick everything is 
with dust!” 


212 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

‘‘Well, you could hardly expect him to stay here 
and keep things clean, for us,^’ grinned Fred. 
“That^s. asking too much, Lee.’^ 

‘ ‘ Oh, I ’m not kicking, ’ ^ disclaimed Lee. ‘ ‘ This 
place looks solid enough to keep the rain out, and 
maybe if we look around we’ll find other things 
besides the candles.” 

“IVe heard of Eskimos eating candles,” said 
Bobby, “and I’m pretty nearly hungry enough to 
try one myself.” 

“Well, you tried the alligator eggs first, so you 
ought to be willing to sample these too,” said 
Fred. 

“Maybe I will, at that,” said Bobby, “but not 
until I’ve made sure there isn’t anything else to 
be had.” 

“There seems to be a closet of some kind over 
there,” said Fred, pointing to the opposite wall. 
“Let’s see what’s in it.” 

“Probably nothing but a large amount of air,” 
said Lee, sceptically. 

“Well, there’s only one way to find out, and 
that’s to look,” said Fred, and, suiting the action 
to the word, he strode quickly across the room 
and opened the door of the closet. 


The Hunter’s Cabin 213 

‘^Scubbity-yow!” yelled Fred. ‘‘Look at that, 
will you!’’ 

Neatly ranged on shelves were cans of meat 
and vegetables, sufficient to feed the boys for 
weeks, if the necessity arose. 

“Gee!” exclaimed Bobby. “It doesn’t look as 
though, we’d have to eat candles yet awhile, does 
it?” 

‘ ‘ I should say not, ’ ’ said Lee, jubilantly. ‘ ‘ And 
there’s a big pot in the corner too,” he cried, a 
moment later. “I reckon whoever provisioned 
this cabin must have intended to stay here a 
while.” 

“Looks like it, all right,” agreed Bobby. “But 
let’s get busy and open one or two of those cans. 
How would you fellows like some baked beans?” 
he inquired, looking over the labels. “Think you 
could punish them in a proper manner?” 

“Lead us to it,” yelled Fred, and Lee rubbed 
his stomach in a most expressive manner. Who- 
ever had provided the food had been so far neg- 
lectful as to forget the convenient can opener, 
but Bobby’s jacknife proved a convenient substi- 
tute, and it did not take them long to get a fire 
going in the rough grate that decorated one end 


214 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

of the little cabin. As the odor of frying pork 
and beans filled the air, the boys could hardly re- 
strain themselves until they were heated through, 
and when at length Bobby pronounced the feast 
ready, they fell on it like so many wolves. 


CHAPTER XXVI 


A MIDNIGHT PKOWLER 

‘‘Yum yum!’’ exclaimed Fred, “I’ve eaten lots 
of beans in my short lifetime, but never any that 
tasted half as good as these.” 

“They are just about what the doctor ordered,” 
conceded Bobby. 

“And when we get through these, how would a 
nice can of peaches taste?” put in Lee. 

“Scubbity-yow!” shouted Fred. “Peaches, 
did you say? Say, I think I’d be contented to 
spend the rest of my life here. Bobby, we cer- 
tainly owe you a vote of thanks for getting us here 
the way you did. ’ ’ 

“It was mostly luck,” disclaimed Bobby. “If 
I hadn’t happened to notice that arrow on the rock 
we ’d be wandering around in the cold, cold world 
yet, probably.” 

“Well, after all the hard luck we’ve had, I think 
we had a little good luck coming to us,” said Lee. 

“Looks as though we had it, for the time being, 
anyway,” replied Bobby, as he sawed away at the 

215 


21G Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

can of peaches. ‘‘Here, you fellows pass your 
cups and Vll fill them up with something that will 
make your hair curl. ’ ’ 

His friends were not slow in accepting this in- 
vitation, and they ate the luscious fruit with an 
appreciation sharpened by ’the privations they 
had been through. As Bobby remarked, “no- 
body knew how good things were until they hadn’t 
been able to get them for awhile.” 

“I don’t know about you energetic Indians,” 
said Lee, when he had finished his peaches with 
a sigh, half of contentment and half of regret that 
they were gone, “but I’m just going to lie on the 
floor in front of that fire and loaf for awhile,” 
and suiting the action to the word, he threw 
himself down full length on the floor. 

“I don’t know how Bobby feels,” said Fred, 
stretching luxuriously, “but I don’t think I’d 
mind a little rest myself. Most of that energy 
Lee’s talking about seems -to have oozed out of 
me, someway.” 

“Same here,” admitted Bobby. “And it’s 
funny, too. Outside of fighting alligators and 
panthers and ducking mudholes and quicksands, 
we haven’t really been doing anything the last 
few days.” 


A JMidniglit Prowler 217 

‘‘A little more of this/’ remarked Fred, ‘^and 
a football game will seem quiet and restful. We’ll 
be going to sleep in the middle of it.” 

‘‘I don’t know about that,” said Bobby, ‘‘but I 
do know that it won’t be very long before I get 
to sleep to-night.” 

“I suppose that whoever owns this cabin won’t 
thank us for eating his food,” went on Fred, as 
all three boys lay luxuriously at eaze and gazed 
into the radiant heart of the fire. 

“If we ever get out of this wilderness. I’ll 
find out who the place belongs to, and we’ll pay 
him for what we take,” said Lee; “I know if it 
were mine, I wouldn’t grudge the food to any one 
who needed it as badly as we did. ’ ’ 

“I wonder who does own it,” speculated Bobby. 

“I haven’t any idea,” admitted Lee, “but lots 
of the people around here keep places like this 
for hunting, and I suppose that’s what it’s been 
used for.” 

“Nobody would have to hunt very long around 
here before he found something, it seems to me,” 
said Bobby. “It seems as though it were the 
other way around, and the animals come and 
hunt us.” 

“Well, that doesn’t matter, as long as they don’t 


218 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

get said Lee, ‘^and I guess we’re as safe in 
this cabin as we would be sleeping at Eockledge.” 

‘‘Yes, or safer, in one way,” said Fred. “If the 
cabin should catch fire, all we’d have to do would 
be to open the door and walk out, while when the 
school caught fire we didn’t have it quite so 
easy. ’ ’ 

“That’s true enough,” agreed Bobby. “But 
while we’re talking of this place being safe, I 
vote we fasten the door better than it is now. 
There’s nothing but a latch holding it, and I’d feel 
safer it we could make it a little more secure.” 

“We might jam a chair against it,” suggested 
Fred, “the floor is pretty uneven, and we could 
jam the chair in between one of the planks and 
the door, so that an elephant would have a hard 
job getting in.” 

“That’s certainly the way we want it,” said 
Lee, laughing. “The harder it is to get that door 
open, the better I’ll sleep.” 

“Wow!” exclaimed Fred, with a tremendous 
yawn. ‘ ‘ Speaking of sleep, let ’s fix things up and 
go to sleep. I feel as though I could win the long 
distance sleeping championship without half try- 
ing.” 

“You’ll have to go some to beat me out,” 


A Midnight Prowler 219 

laughed Bobby, scrambling to his feet. ‘‘Let’s 
see if Fred’^s plan to fasten the door will work.” 

“Nothing surer in the world,” boasted Fred, 
“just watch me.” 

Just in front of the door one floor board was 
warped so that it was perhaps half an inch higher 
than those alongside it. The cabin was equipped 
with three rude but very strong chairs, and seiz- 
ing one of these, Fred jammed it in between the 
door and the uneven board so that any one or any- 
thing attempting to enter would have to tear up 
the floor before it could gain admittance. 

“There!” exclaimed Fred, stepping back to 
view his handiwork, “I guess any one that wants 
to come in here now will have to ask our permis- 
sion first. ’ ’ 

The windows of the little cabin were small and 
criss-crossed with stout scantlings, so there was 
no chance of any denizen of the woods making 
them an unwelcome visit by means of that route. 
It was Lee who suggested the only remaining pos- 
sibility. 

“I wonder if any friends of that cougar could 
get down the chimney,” he speculated. 

“We’ll soon see,” said Bobby, crossing over to 
the fireplace. He glanced in under the hood that 


220 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

projected from the fireplace to keep the smoke 
out of the room. 

‘‘I don’t think there’s any chance of that,” he 
stated. ‘‘The flue isn’t more than eight or ten 
inches square, and anything that could get down 
there couldn’t do us much damage. Besides, the 
fire will be going most of the night, and I guess 
that would do the trick, even if the chimney were 
four times as big as it is now.” 

Reassured on this point, the boys threw more 
wood on the fire, for the sake of light as well as 
warmth, and selected their bunks for the night. 
There were four of these built against the wall 
opposite the fireplace, and they were filled with 
twigs and dead leaves, mab*ng a comfortable 
enough bed for those who were tired enough not 
to be particular about where they slept. 

“I guess there’s not much choice,” said Bobby, 
“so I’ll just tumble into the one nearest me.” 
Which he proceeded forthwith to do. The others 
each selected a bunk, and followed his example. 

The fire crackling cheerily on the hearth made 
the cabin pleasantly warm, and the boys were just 
dropping off to sleep when they were suddenly 
brought back to wakefulness with a jerk by a 
stealthy scratching sound at the door, followed 


A Midnight Prowler 221 

by a low growl. For a few seconds after this 
there was silence, and then the boys could hear 
the door creak as some strong body pushed against 
it. 

Thanks to the strong barricade against it, how- 
ever, the stout door defied the efforts of the would- 
be intruder, and the boys, sitting up in their 
bunks with every sense alert, could hear the soft 
pad-pad of feet encircling the cabin. Then there 
was a sudden fierce scrambling and scratching, 
and the beast, whatever it was, was on the roof. 
It prowled restlessly about, stopping every now 
and then to tear at the roof with rasping claws. 
But the cabin was constructed in stout fashion, 
and was not to be entered so easily. 

‘‘What do you suppose it can be, fellows T’ 
questioned Lee in a low voice, which trembled a 
little in spite of himself. “Do you think it can 
be another cougar T’ 

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” whispered Bobby. 
“Maybe it’s the mate of the one that we killed 
to-day. She may have tracked us to get revenge. ’ ’ 

“I’ll bet that’s just what it is!” cried Fred. 
“Suppose we had had to sleep in the woods to- 
night. We ’d be goners, sure. ’ ’ 

The others nodded, and they all three listened 


222 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

to see wkat the night prowler would do next. The 
brute examined every foot of the roof, and the 
boys could hear it sniffing suspiciously at the 
chimney. They blessed the man who had con- 
structed the cabin with such a wary eye for such 
contingencies, and congratulated each other on 
being safe within instead of out in the woods and 
practically at the mercy of the savage brute. 

The beast overhead finally seemed to come to 
the conclusion that it could not get in from the 
roof, and it leaped to the ground and the boys 
could hear it going away. For a long time they 
listened for it to come back, but it did not, and 
at last, far away, they heard the same wild scream 
they had heard while on the island in the swamp, 
but this time there seemed to be a note of grief as 
well as ferocity in the cry. It rose, cut wailingly 
through the darkness, and then died away. 

For a long time the boys sat tense and expect- 
ant, not knowing at what moment the beast might 
return. But as nothing further happened, drow- 
siness at last overcame them, and after throwing 
a fresh supply of fuel on the fire, they dropped 
into deep slumber, from which they were only 
awakened by a golden shaft of sunshine that 
pierced in through one of the little windows. 


A Midnight Prowler 223 

said Bobby, sitting up and rubbing the 
sleep out of his eyes, ‘‘I feel fit for anything now, 
and hungry enough to eat nails. It^s your turn 
to cook, Fred. Hustle around and see if you can. 
get breakfast as well as I got supper last night.’’ 

‘‘Huh ! I’ll show you what real cooking is like,’’ 
said Fred, leaping out of his bunk. “What shall 
it be — humming-birds’ tongues or bird’s-nest 
soupr’ 

“I think I’d rather have some bacon, if it’s all 
the same to you,” said Bobby, with mock serious- 
ness. “There’s a fresh jar of it in the closet.” 

“Oh, well, if you’d rather have ordinary, every- 
day bacon,” said Fred, “I’ll have to give it to 
you, I suppose,” and he soon had some appetiz- 
ing slices sizzling in the pan. 

“That cougar last night seems like a bad dream 
now,” remarked Lee. “I don’t mind admitting 
I felt mighty nervous while he was prowling 
around.” 

“I guess none of us exactly enjoyed it,” re- 
turned Bobby. “But it may not have been a 
cougar at all. Maybe it was only a wildcat.” 

“Possibly,” said Lee, doubtfully, and Fred ter- 
minated further discussion at this point by serv- 
ing out the crisp bacon, together with some hard- 


224; Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

tack that he had fried in the grease. This was 
soon eaten, and after Fred had been complimented 
on his cooking, the boys cautiously unfastened the 
door, and, seeing no signs of the beast, whatever 
it was, that had disturbed them the previous 
night, ventured forth to explore their surround- 
ings. 


CHAPTEE XXVII 


THE MOCCASIN SNAKE 

The hearty breakfast and the bright sunshine, 
added to the consciousness that they had found a 
shelter to which they might retreat in case of 
need put new zest into the boys, and they felt 
much more hopeful and lighthearted than they 
had twenty-four hours earlier. 

^‘Somehow I have a hunch that this is going 
to be a lucky day for us,^^ remarked Bobby, as he 
led the way. 

Here’s hoping that you’re right,” said Lee. 
^‘We’re certainly about due for a change in for- 
tune. Poor mother!” he added, anxiety coming 
into his eyes, ^‘she must be worried to death. 
It’s safe to say she hasn’t slept a wink since we’ve 
been gone. I’ve no doubt she has searching 
parties out looking for us, but in this swamp they 
might hunt for days without coming across us.” 

We ’ll trust in Bobby’s hunch,” Fred encour- 
aged him. ‘^They’ve often come out all right. 

225 


226 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

I think he’s got a rabbit’s foot hidden about him 
somewhere.” 

“If I had, we’d been out of this swamp long 
before this,” laughed Bobby. “Now,” he went 
on, “there’s one thing we’ve got to do, and it’s 
more important than anything else. Wherever 
we go, we ’ve got to know how to find our way back 
to this cabin. In the first place, it’s the only safe 
place to spend the night. Then the very fact it’s 
here shows that parties come to it sometimes and 
we may have the luck of falling in with them.” 

“Yes,” said Fred, “that’s good advice. But 
how are we going to do it?” 

“By using this,” replied Bobby, showing him a 
small hatchet that he had fastened to his belt. 
“I found this in one comer of the cabin this morn- 
ing and I brought it along. We’ll chip off pieces 
of bark from the trees as we go along and that 
will help us to find our way back.” 

He illustrated this by slashing a bit of bark off 
a tree that they happened to be passing. 

“That’s bully,” said Lee, greatly relieved. “I 
was just worrying about the chance of not being 
able to find our way back again.” 

They went on, looking carefully for some sign 
of a trail, by following which they might again 
reach the plantation and friends. 



Like lightning an ugly head appeared at the 
other end and struck savagely at the intruder* 


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The Moccasin Snake 


227 


Soon they found themselves on marshier ground 
than that near the cabin, and they turned in an- 
other direction to find better footing. 

The ground was covered with rotting leaves 
and bits of broken branches. Fr^d was picking 
his way, and was just about to step on what 
seemed to be an xmusually thick stick, about three 
feet long, when there was a warning shout from 
Lee who was several feet in the rear. 

‘‘Look out, Fred!’ he yelled. “It’s a snake, a 
moccasin!” 

The warning came too late. Fred’s foot had 
already touched one end of the seeming stick. 
Like lightning, an ugly head upreared at the other 
end and struck savagely at the intruder. 

“Eun!” shouted Lee. “Eun for your life!” 

Fred obeyed and ran as fast as the mar.shy 
nature of the ground permitted. The snake pur- 
sued him gliding through the tussocks, his bale- 
ful eyes like two flaming points. 

Bobby had turned at Lee’s cry, and in a moment 
had grasped the situation. He had the hatchet 
in his hand and threw it with all his might at the 
snake, that was now close on Fred’s heels. He 
had no time to take careful aim, but by great good 
fortune the sharp blade struck the reptile a little 
behind the neck. It stopped instantly and 


228 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

writhed about, beating the ground and hissing 
horribly. 

Lee in the meantime had picked up a club, and 
with a few blows from this put an end to the 
snake. Then he and Bobby hurried to their com- 
rade, who had seated himself on the trunk of a 
fallen tree, pale and panting. 

“Did he bite you, FredT^ cried Bobby, his 
heart convulsed with fear for his chum. 

“I’m afraid he did,” replied Fred, in a tone 
that he tried to keep firm. “He gave an awful 
dig at my foot.” 

In a moment Bobby was on his knees and was 
taking ofi Fred’s shoe. There were tiny holes 
in it where the snake’s fangs had penetrated. 
The stocking too was torn, and Bobby’s heart 
sank as he stripped it off. 

But a great wave of thankfulness swept over 
him when he saw that the skin was not broken. 
He looked it over most carefully, but there was 
not even a scratch. By the narrowest of chances, 
Fred had escaped. His stout shoe had saved him. 

“You’re all right, old boy,” said Bobby, though 
his voice trembled. “That snake came mighty 
near doing for you but didn’t quite make it.” 

Fred almost collapsed as he realized that he 
was safe, for he had feared the worst. 


The Mjoccasin Snake 


229 


‘‘If he had struck above the shoe top it would 
have been good-night,’’ said Lee, who shared to 
the full the joy and relief of his friends. “Those 
moccasins are the deadliest snakes of the South. 
People are more afraid of them than of rattle-, 
snakes. A rattlesnake will give warning, but a 
moccasin never does. Then too a rattlesnake is 
only too glad to get away from you if you will 
let him, but the moccasin will chase you, just as 
this one did. My, but you had a narrow escape. 
The snake was gaining on you and would have 
wound himself around your leg in another min- 
ute and then it would have been all over with you. ’ ’ 

Bobby brought a little water from a pool near 
by and carefully washed the stocking, scrub- 
bing the shoe also, to remove any trace of thd 
poison that there might be on them. Then after 
they had partially dried, Fred put them on and 
they all went over to look at the hideous reptile. 
It lay perfectly still and there was no doubt that 
it was dead, but to make assurance doubly sure, 
Bobby recovered his hatchet that lay a few feet 
away and with one stroke struck off the mocca- 
sin’s head. 

“Gee, he’s an ugly looking sinner,” murmured 
Fred. 

“Sure is,” agreed his chums in unison. 


CHAPTER XXVin 


A GREAT DISCOVERY 

Now that the snake was certainly beyond the 
possibility of doing them further harm, the boys 
could inspect it at their leisure. But even in 
death the venomous reptile inspired them with 
horror. Fred shuddered as he looked at him and 
thought of what might have been if the snake 
had struck a little harder or had overtaken him 
in that desperate chase. 

It wa-s about a yard in length, and the body 
was strong and thick. The short tail was pro- 
vided with a row of shields and there was a horny 
appendage at the end. The long triangular 
head had shallow pits on the nose and the mouth 
was very wide. The color was a coppery brown 
and there were reddish brown bands on the sides 
that became wider on the lower end of the body, 
giving an appearance something like moccasins, 
and from these the snake derived its name. 

What the boys specially noticed was a white 
band that ran round the creature ^s mouth. 

230 


231 


A Great Dis'covery 

That’s what gives it the other name it’s known, 
by,” explained Lee. ‘^People call it the cotton 
mouth, because that white streak looks like cot- 
ton.” 

‘‘It’s the ugliest thing I ever saw!” exclaimed 
Fred. “I only hope I never see another. You bet 
that I’m going to watch my step for the rest of 
the time we’re in this swamp.” 

“Once get out of this, you’re not likely to see 
one again,” Lee assured him. “They’re mostly 
found in wet, marshy places and I’ve never seen 
one on dry parts of the plantation. There are 
plenty of them in the low-lying rice fields, and the 
darkeys stand in deadly fear of them.” 

“I don’t blame them,” remarked Bobby. 
“But come now, fellows, let’s get along. There’s 
nothing to keep us here any longer, unless,” he 
added with a laugh, “Fred wants to take this 
fellow’s head along as a souvenir.” 

“Not on your life!” declared Fred emphati- 
cally. “I’ll see that head often enough in my 
dreams as it is. Gee, Bobby,” he continued with 
a sigh of relief, “it was a mighty lucky thing you 
had that hatchet along with you.” 

“And luckier yet that he threw it just right,” 


232 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

put in Lee. ‘^Tbat^s what conies from being a 
good ball player. One learns how to throw. 

‘‘Don’t give me any credit for that,” protested 
Bobby. “I might just as well have hit him with 
the handle instead of the blade. Luck sure was 
with us.” 

They left the loathsome reptile and made their 
way to higher ground, picking their steps with 
exceeding care and avoiding as they would the 
plague anything that looked like a thick stick. 

Bobby was going ahead as fast as the tangled 
vines and shrubbery would let him, when he gave 
an exclamation and fell to his knees. 

“What’s the matter?” asked his companions 
in alarm, running up to him. 

“Stubbed pny toe on something hard,” ex- 
plained Bobby, rising to his feet and brushing 
himself off, “and barked my shins in the bargain 
as I went down. Kicked against a stone, I imag- 
ine.” 

‘ ‘ That ’s funny, ’ ’ said Lee. ‘ ‘ There are mighty 
few stones around here. It must have been a 
stump. ’ ’ 

“Well, it doesn’t matter much,” replied Bobby. 
“It brought me down all right, whether it was 


A Great Discovery 233 

wood or stone. But just for curiosity, I^m going 
to find out.^’ 

He kicked away the grass and twigs and bent 
down to look. 

‘‘Why, that’s queer!’’’ he exclaimed. “It’s 
stone, as I thought, but it isn’t a rock. It’s been 
shaped with a chisel and it looks as though it 
had figures or letters on it.” 

“How on earth did a thing like that get here?” 
asked Fred, in a puzzled tone. 

“I can make out something like the letter C,” 
said Bobby. “C-A-E-T — — ^why, Lee, I believe 
it’s your name!” 

The next instant he leaped to his feet, as the 
full significance of his discovery flashed upon him. 

“Hurrah!” he shouted. “Glory hallelujah! 
Lee, we’ve found one of the boundary stones of 
your mother’s property.” 

“What?” cried Lee, all a-tremble with excite- 
ment. 

“Are you sure?” queried Fred, dropping on 
hands and knees beside his friend. 

“It sure looks like it,” affirmed Bobby, digging 
away like mad to uncover more of the stone. 

The others followed his example and made the 


234 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

dirt fly, for all the world, as Fred said afterward, 
‘‘like dogs digging out a woodchuck.’^ 

A few minutes of hard work, and enough of 
the stone was uncovered to permit them to make 
out the inscription. It was time-stained and 
weatherbeaten, but read as follows: 

S.E. Limit of property of N. CAETIER, La- 
hovlaye Parish, La, 

Then followed some surveyor’s signs and sym- 
bols, which to the boys were like so much Greek. 
Underneath these however was an arrow pointing 
in a certain direction, and Bobby studied this for 
several minutes with great attention. 

“What do you make of it?” asked Fred curi- 
ously, as he noted his friend’s puckered brow. 

“This arrow means something,” replied Bobby, 
“and I think we’d better follow in the direction 
in which it points. I tell you what we do. You 
stand here, Fred, and Lee and I will follow the 
line of the arrow. If you see us getting out of 
line, you wave to us and set us right.” 

This was agreed to, and Bobby and Lee set out. 
They had gone a distance of perhaps two hundred 
yards, when Bobby’s keen eyes saw a rim of stone 


A Great Discovery 235 

just projecting above the ground. They cleared 
away the moss and rubbish about it and found 
that it was another landmark, practically the same 
as the first, except that in this case the arrow 
pointed slightly in another direction, showing 
that the boundary line veered at that point. 

They shouted to Fred and he quickly rejoined 
them. 

‘‘Now,’’ said Bobby jubilantly, “the rest will 
be easy. All we’ve got to do is to report the lo- 
cation of these two stones and a surveying party 
can go from stone to stone and so trace out the 
whole boundary line of the property.” 

“Look!” exclaimed Fred suddenly, pointing to 
the right. 

They looked and saw a figure just vanishing 
behind a tree. 


CHAPTER XXIX 


’eASTUS ABIMELECH BELSHAZZAE JOHNSOIT 

‘‘Who can that beT' asked Fred, as the star- 
tled boys focused their eyes on the tree. 

“Search me/’ replied Bobby. “But whoever 
it is, we want to talk to him right away. It isn’t 
likely he intends any harm, and maybe he ’ll know 
a way to get out of this swamp.” 

“More likely he’s lost in it, just the same as 
ourselves,” conjectured Fred, but followed Bobby 
and Lee who had already started in the direction 
of the tree. 

When they were within twenty feet of it, they 
halted. 

“Hello there!” sang out Bobby. “Come out 
from behind that tree, please. We want to talk 
to you.” 

A woolly head peered cautiously around the 
side of the tree and then a diminutive darkey boy 
appeared in full view. 

Recognition on both sides was instantaneous. 

236 


’Eastus Abimelech Belshazzar Johnson 237 

‘‘Why,’^ cried Lee, ‘that’s the boy who fell 
overboard on the way down from New York, the 
one that Bobby saved by throwing him the life 
preserver!’’ 

‘‘The one with the long name!” exclaimed 
Fred. “Let’s see, it was — ” 

“ ’Eastus Abimelech Belshazzar Johnson,” fin- 
ished the little darkey proudly, with a grin that 
showed all his white teeth. “An’ Ah sure am 
spifflicated to meet all you young gem’mun agin, 
speshul dis one what saved mah life,” indicating 
Bobby. 

“Maybe you can do the same for us now,” said 
Bobby. “We’re lost in this swamp. Do you 
know the way out?” 

“Ah sho will,” replied ’Eastus, and a moment 
flash of his gleaming ivories. “Ah wuz bo’n an’ 
brung up only a few miles fum heah. Eeckon Ah 
cud fin’ mah way fru dis yeah swamp wiv mah 
eyes shet.” 

This was indeed good news to the boys, who felt 
as if a thousand tons had been lifted from their 
hearts. 

“Fac’ is,” continued ’Eastus, “Ah cum along 
wiv a pahty what wuz lookin’ fur you-all. Dey’s 
only a little way fum heah, an’ Ah specs Ah’d 


238 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

better go an’ information dem dat you-all ez 
heah.” 

‘‘You bet you would,” cried Lee. “Hurry up, 
’Eastus, and you ’ll find that this was the best 
day’s work you ever did.” 

“ ’Eastus is going to be our Moses to lead us 
out of the wilderness,” cried Fred gleefully. 

“Mah name ain’t Moses,” replied their deliv^ 
erer. “It am ’Eastus Abimelech Belshazzar 
Johnson.” 

“And a mighty good name it is,” said Bobby, 
“and one that we’ll always remember. But now 
let’s see how quick you’ll be in finding the other 
people and bringing them here.” 

“Ah sho will,” replied ’Eastus, and a moment 
later he had vanished like a shadow among the 
vines and tree trunks. 

“Thank heaven,” cried Lee as they looked af- 
ter his retreating figure. “Before night we’ll all 
be back in the home that I began to fear we’d 
neper see again.” 

“It’s glorious,” agreed Bobby, “but after all, 
perhaps it’s all for the best that we’ve had to stay 
in the swamp as long as we have. If help had 
come yesterday, for instance, we wouldn’t have 
found the boundary stones. That’s paid us for 


’Eastus Abimelech Belshazzar Johnson 239 

all the trouble and danger we’ve been through.” 

In a few minutes they heard the sound of voices, 
and soon a party of four men came in sight, with 
’Eastus Abimelech Belshazzar Johnson proudly 
leading the way. 

There were broad smiles on their faces as the 
boys rushed forward to meet them and it was hard 
to tell which group was the more delighted. All 
talked together, and there was a general hubbub 
until the excitement quieted down a little. 

The leader of the party was a Mr. Lanfranc,, 
the Parish Clerk of that section, a big, bluff, ge- 
nial man, who was a great friend of the Cartier 
family. 

‘‘I can’t tell you how relieved we are to find 
you boys,” he said, as he slapped Lee affection- 
ately on the shoulder. ‘‘We’ve been, beating the 
swamp for you for the last two days. But it 
covers so many miles of territory that it’s al- 
most like looking for a needle in a haystack. But 
thank God that we’ve found you at last, alive and 
well. Your poor mother has been almost crazy 
about you. Here, ’Eastus,” he continued, turn- 
ing to the little darkey who stood by, all smiles 
and swelling with a sense of his importance, “you 
go right away to the Cartier place and tell Mrs. 


240 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

Cartier that we’ve found the boys, that they’re 
all right, and that we ’ll be home before night. ’ ’ 

With another flash of his white teeth, ’Eastus 
was .off on his errand. 

‘‘We’d go right away,’"’ explained Mr. Lan- 
franc to Lee, “only we have a rendezvous with 
another party to meet them at noon only a little 
way from here. As soon as they know you’ve 
been found we ’ll have a bit of lunch and then we ’ll 
all make tracks for home. But how did it come 
about that you got lost?” he continued. “I un- 
derstand you went away in the motor boat. What 
became of that?” 

“Jim Boolus stole it from us,” replied Lee. 

“What!” cried Mr. Lanfranc. 

He listened while Lee told him of the confession 
they had extorted from the negro boy who had 
acted as the tool of Boolus, and his face grew 
dark with wrath, that was reflected on those of the 
other members of the party. 

“The old scoundrel!” he exclaimed. “That 
caps the climax. For a long time he’s been the 
bane of this parish. But up to now he’s been so 
cunning that the law has had no chance to get a 
grip on him. But this time he ’s overreached him- 
self, and the minute we can lay our hands on him 


’Eastus Abimelech Belshazzar Johnson 241 

well clap him in jail. It will be a double satis- 
faction to do that, because of the way he’s been 
trying to get your mother’s property away from 
her. I’m afraid he may do that yet.” 

‘^No, he won’t!” cried Lee jubilantly. ‘‘We’ve 
found the boundary stones of the property!” 


CHAPTER XXX 


JIM BOOLUS TBAPPED 

‘‘Say that again, cried Mr. Lanfranc, delight 
and incredulity struggling for the mastery. 

“Sure as shooting,’’ affirmed Lee with a happy 
laugh. “It isn’t more than an hour ago that we 
came across them. Come here and I’ll show them 
to you.” 

The whole party hurried to the precious me- 
morials and examined them closely. The Parish 
Clerk was skilled in such matters, which came 
within the duties of his office, and he confirmed 
the belief of the boys that these were the only 
things necessary to make Mrs. Cartier’s title to 
the property absolutely secure. 

“This has been a great day,” he said, as he 
rose from his knees after making notes of the 
inscriptions on the stones, “not only because we 
have found you boys, but because we’ve been able 
to put a crimp in the plans of the greatest ras- 
cal in this part of the parish. It was a clever 

242 


Jim Boolus Trapped 243 

thing, by the way, that you hoys caught on to the 
meaning of these boundary stones.’’ 

“Oh, as for that,” said Lee generously, “all 
the praise must go to Bobby here. He was the 
one that figured it all out.” 

“Some boy,” said Mr. Lanfranc approvingly, 
and Bobby fiushed to his ears. 

“It’s a queer coincidence,” continued Mr. Lan- 
franc, “that we ran across Boolus, accompanied 
by one of his negroes, in another part of the 
swamp, no later than yesterday. He said that 
he was out hunting, but I didn’t see that he had 
any gun. But here come the other fellows,” he 
added, as he caught sight of a party of three 
coming into view, “and as it is pretty near noon, 
I guess well have our lunch right now and hurry 
back home. I can imagine how impatient Mrs. 
Cartier will be to have you with her as soon as 
possible.” 

The newcomers were quite as delighted as the 
first party had been to learn that the missing ones 
were found aiid that their anxious search was 
ended. They chose a spot on higher ground in 
a clump of trees, and set to work on the abundant 
lunch with which they were provided. The boys, 
with their minds free for the first time in days. 


244: Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

thought it was the most delicious repast they had 
ever tasted. 

They had not quite finished when Bobby caught 
sight of two figures at the edge of a fringe of 
trees some distance away. 

‘‘Here come two other men/^ he announced. 

“Is that so?’’ said Mr. Lanfranc with some 
curiosity. “I wonder who they are. Hunters I 
suppose.” 

“No,” cried Lee, who had been studying them 
closely. “It’s Jim Boolus and that darkey of 
his.” 

“So it is,” confirmed Mr. Lanfranc, after an- 
other look. “Lie down flat, all of you. I’m cu- 
rious to see what the old rascal is up to.” 

; They stretched themselves flat on the ground 
and looked through the bushes at the approaching 
couple. 

All unconscious of the scrutiny, they came on, 
Boolus in the van, his eyes scanning the ground 
as they advanced. 

Suddenly he caught sight of one of the bound- 
ary stones, which, having been largely uncovered 
during the investigation of the markings were 
now in plain sight. With an exclamation of sat- 
isfaction, he hurried toward it, and fell on his 


Jim Boolus Trapped 245 

knees to look at it closely. Then he rose to his 
feet and nibbed his hands together in glee. 

He beckoned to the colored youth, talked to him 
for a minute or two and then both set to work 
digging about the stone, using some implements 
that the attendant had brought with him. 

^‘What are they after?’’ asked Fred in a whis- 
per. 

‘‘I know very well what they are after,” re- 
plied Mr. Lanfranc in a low tone that held grim- 
ness in it. ^^He’s hanging himself with his own, 
rope.” 

The couple worked hard for perhaps a quarter 
of an hour, and then with great effort dragged 
the heavy stone out of its hole and laid it on the 
grass. Then after resting a moment each took 
one end, land half carrying, half dragging it, 
moved toward the edge of a bog that lay twenty 
yards away. 

‘‘Halt!” shouted Mr. Lanfranc, and at the 
same moment the whole party rose to their feet 
and poured out from among the trees. 

At the sudden command, Boolus and his helper 
dropped the stone as though they had been shot. 
In a moment the members of the party were upon 
them. The negro started to run, but one of the 


246 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

men caught him and dragged him back by the 
collar. 

‘‘So, Jim Boolus,’^ said Mr. Lanfranc, “you 
robber of widows and orphans, weVe caught you 
at last. YouVe kept out of the grip of the law 
for a long time, but it^s got you now. The evi- 
dence is so clear that the jury will convict you 
without leaving the box. You stole the boat of 
these boys ’and left them to starve and die, for 
all you cared — ’’ 

“I didn’t,’^ denied Boolus, “and you canT 
prove it.’’ 

“This boy has confessed that he did it at your 
direction,” declared Mr. Lanfranc, indicating the 
negro. 

“You don’t suppose a jury would take the word 
of a negro against that of a white man, do you?” 
replied Boolus, who thought he saw a ray of 
hope. 

“Against such a white man as they know you 
to be, I think they would,” answered Mr. Lan- 
franc. “But let that pass. Just now, all of us 
have seen you commit a crime. Two minutes 
more and that stone would have been swallowed 
up in the bog. The removal of boundary marks 
is a serious crime and a state prison offense. 


Jim Boolus Trapped 247 

You’re due for a good long time behind the bars, 
Jim Boolus. Come along now,” he commanded, 
cutting short abruptly the mumbling appeals 
for mercy that the detected wretch was begin- 
ning. 

The whole party took up the march, and in a 
few hours reached the nearest town, where Jim 
Boolus was committed to the charge of the sher- 
iff, who took him to the jail. There he stayed 
until, a few weeks later, he began his long prison 
term. 

The boys hurried at once to the plantation, 
where Lee flew to his mother’s arms. She 
hugged and cried over him, as mothers do, and 
then Bobby and Fred came in for a welcome 
scarcely less warm. It was a glorious reunion 
and one of the happiest occasions that the boys 
had ever known. 

‘^Do you remember what I said about a hunch 
this morning?” Bobby asked Fred, when, at the 
end of that jubilant day, they were getting ready 
for bed. 

^^Yes,” agreed Fred, ‘‘your hunch was right. 
It. sure has been our lucky day!” 

“And to think we found those boundary 
stones,” put in Lee. “That’s the best ever. My 


248 Bobby Blake on a Plantation 

mother will want to thank you for that — ^when 
she gets over all this excitement over our return/^ 

‘^Gee, but well have a story to tell, when we 
get back to Eockledge,’’ was Fredas comment. 
"^Lost in a swamp, and fighting a cougar, and a 
moccasin snake, and sinking in the mush — 

‘‘They won’t believe the half of it,” added 
Bobby. “It sure was a lot of adventures!” 

“Well, now you’ve got to settle down to. good 
times on the plantation,” said Lee. 

“I wonder if we’ll get back that motor boat,” 
cried Bobby, suddenly. 

“I don’t know,” answered the Southern boy. 
But it may be added that the boat had already 
been found and was returned to the Cartiers the 
next day. 

Delightful days on the plantation followed. 
The boys avoided the big swamp, but they visited 
the cotton and the rice fields, and had the bfest of 
times. 

“And now, back to school!” sang out Bobby 
one day, and here, getting ready to return to 
Eockledge, we will leave the lads. 


THE END 


.THE BOBBY BLAKE SERIES 

BY FRANK A. WARNER 

BOOKS FOR BOYS 

From eight to twelve years old 

True stories of life at a modern 
American boarding school. Bobby 
attends this institution of learning 
with his particular chum and the 
boys have no end of good times. 
The tales of outdoor life, espe- 
cially the exciting times they have 
when engaged in sports against 
rival schools, are written in a 
manner so true, so realistic, that 
the reader, too, is bound to share 
with these boys their thrills and 
pleasures. 

1 BOBBY BLAKE AT ROCKLEDGE SCHOOL. 

2 BOBBY BLAKE AT BASS COVE. 

3 BOBBY BLAKE ON A CRUISE. 

4 BOBBY BLAKE AND HIS SCHOOL CHUMS. 

5 BOBBY BLAKE AT SNOWTOP CAMP. 

6 BOBBY BLAKE ON THE SCHOOL NINE. 

7 BOBBY BLAKE ON A RANCH. 

8 BOBBY BLAKE ON AN AUTO TOUR. 

9 BOBBY BLAKE ON THE SCHOOL ELEVEN, 

10 BOBBY BLAKE ON A PLANTATION. 

BARSE & HOPKINS 



New York, N. Y. 


Newark, N. J, 


THE BOY SCOUT LIFE SERIES 


Published with the approval of 
The Boy Scouts of America 


In the boys’ world of story books, none 
better than those about boy scouts arrest 
and grip attention. In a most alluring way, 
the stories in the BOY SCOUT LIFE 
SERIES tell of the glorious good times and 
wonderful adventures of boy scouts. 

All the books were written by authors 
possessed of an intimate knowledge of this 
greatest of all movements organized for the 
welfare of boys, and are published with the 
approval of the National Headquarters of the Boy Scouts 
of America. 

The Chief Scout Librarian, Mr. F. K. Mathiews, writes 
concerning them: “It is a bully bunch of books. I hope 
you will sell 100,000 copies of each one, for these stories are 
the sort that help instead of hurt our movement.” 



THE BOY SCOUT FIRE FIGHTERS — C/?I 7 MP 
THE BOY SCOUTS OF THE LIGHTHOUSE TROOP — 
McLANE 

THE BOY SCOUT TRAIL BLAZERS — CHEIEY 
THE BOY SCOUT TREASURE HUNTERS — LERR/GO 
BOY SCOUTS AFLOAT — WALDEAT 
BOY SCOUTS COURAGEOUS — MA 2 H/EIFS 
BOY SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE — LERRI GO 
^BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL — GARTH 


Newark, N. J. 


BARSE 6- HOPKINS 

PUBLISHERS 


New York, N. Y, 


THE GO AHEAD BOYS 

BY ROSS KAY. 


I leave this rule for others when Vm dead: 

Be always sure you're right — THEN GO AHEAD. 

— Davy Crockett's Motto, 

The love of adventure is inborn in all 
normal boys. Action is almost a supreme 
demand in all the stories they read with 
most pleasure. Here is presented a series 
of rattling good adventure stories which 
every live “go ahead” boy will read with 
unflagging interest. There is action, dash 
and snap m every tale yet the tone is health- 
ful and there is an underlying vein of re- 
sourcefulness and strength that is worth 
while. 


1 THE GO AHEAD BOYS ON SMUGGLERS* ISLAND. 

2 THE GO AHEAD BOYS AND THE TREASURE CAVE. 

3 THE GO AHEAD BOYS AND THE MYSTERIOUS 

OLD HOUSE. 

4 THE GO AHEAD BOYS IN THE ISLAND CAMP. 

5 THE GO AHEAD BOYS AND THE RACING MOTOR 

BOAT. 

6 THE GO AHEAD BOYS AND SIMON’S MINE. 

(Other volumes in preparation) 

doth, Large 12mo„ Illustrated. 



Newark, N. J. 


BARSE & HOPKINS 

PUBLISHERS 


New Yorlf^N. Y. 


“As Popular as the Game Itself” 


THE BIG LEAGUE SERIES 

{Trade Mark Registered) 

BY BURT L. STANDISH. 


Endorsed by such stars of baseballdom 
as Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb and Walter 
Johnson. 

An American boy with plenty of grit — 
baseball at its finest — and the girl in the case 
— these are the elements which compose 
the most successful of juvenile fiction. You 
don’t have to be a “fan” to enjoy these 
books; all you need to be is really human 
and alive with plenty of red blood in your 
veins. 

The author managed a “Bush League” team a number of 
years ago and is thoroughly familiar with the actions of 
baseball players on and off the field. Every American, young 
or old, who has enjoyed the thrills and excitement of our 
national game, is sure to read with delight these splendid 
stories of baseball and romance. 

1 LEFTY O’ THE BUSH. 

2 LEFTY O’ THE BIG LEAGUE. 

3 LEFTY O’ THE BLUE STOCKINGS. 

4 LEFTY O’ THE TRAINING CAMP. 

5 BRICK KING, BACKSTOP. 

6 THE MAKING OF A BIG LEAGUER. 

7 COURTNEY OF THE CENTER GARDEN. 

8 COVERING THE LOOK-IN CORNER. 

9 LEFTY LOCKE, PITCHER-MANAGER. 

10 GUARDING THE KEYSTONE SACK. 

11 THE MAN ON FIRST 


Em 

LEFTY 


OthfBUSH 

1 



BUWLSTANDISH 


Newark, N. J. 


BARSE & HOPKINS 

PUBLISHERS 


New York. N. Y* 


The Yank Brown Series 

By DAVID STONE 

Cloth, large 12 mo. Illustrated. 


When Yank Brown comes 
to Belmont College as a 
callow Freshman, there is 
a whole lot that he doesn’t 
know about college life, 
such as class rushes, rival- 
ries, fraternities, and what 
a lowly Freshman must 
not do. But he does know 
something about how to 
play football, and he is a 
big, likeable chap who 
speedily makes friends. 

In the first story of this 
series we watch Yank buck the line as a Half- 
back. In the second story he goes in for basket- 
ball, among many other activities of a busy col- 
lege year. Then there are other stories to fol- 
low — each brimful of action and interest. This 
is one of the best college series we have seen in 
a long while. 

YANK BROWN, HALFBACK 

YANK BROWN, FORWARD 

YANK BROWN, CROSS-COUNTRY 
RUNNER 


BARSE & HOPKINS 

NEWARK NEW YORK 

N. J. N. Y. 



{Other volumes in preparation.) 



THE 

COLLEGE LIFE SERIES 

By Gilbert Patten 

Cloth Large 12mo. Illustrated 


Mr. Patten's intimate knowl- 
edge of college life and college 
athletics, is indicated clearly in 
these volumes. They will in- 
terest alike the young collegian 
and the old graduate, for here 
they find stories of unusual in- 
terest dealing with phases of 
life of which they are familiar. 

1 BOLTWOOD OF YALE. 

2 THE COLLEGE REBEL. 

3 ON COLLEGE BATTLEFIELDS. 

4 THE CALL OF THE VARSITY. 


BARSE & HOPKINS 

Publishers 

New York, N. Y. Newark, N. J. 












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